The Recruit
by ViridianK
Summary: Piers Nivans was just a regular man living in a peaceful city of some fifty thousand people. One day, the city would be invaded and decimated by B.O.W.s known as J'avo. Will he make it out of the city alive and help continue the fight against Bio-Terrorism, or will he quietly sink into despair?
1. Chapter 1: Under Siege

Chapter 1: Under Siege

"Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced." ~ John Keats

~Piers

It had been three days since those mutant things had come into the city. Slowly but surely they started to kill, maim, and torture every person that they found. The city used to be a thriving and peaceful city. Now, the human population that used to flourish within the borders was now decimated. What used to be over fifty thousand people would now be lucky to even have barely a thousand un-mutated souls left alive within the borders.

This is how he had been living for the past three days and then some. Now, the people that were able to hide had to scrounge for every bit of food possible or face starvation and malnutrition on the streets. You had to be very careful, these things were very strong and it seemed that even if you could harm it, the creature would only come back stronger than ever before, being harmed with weapons did almost nothing, causing it to mutate and grow new body parts and organs to respond to anything, turning them into deadly creations.

But, unfortunately, this is how he found himself being chased by one of those monsters. He had not eating any food in almost two days and the small craps he had just seen seemed too good to be true. He went out to grab it, not remembering the last time bread seemed like it would be so delicious. He realized his mistake too late however, and he soon found himself face to face with a creature holding a gun, slime pouring out of cracks in his reddened face that contained four beady little eyes, starting at him with a dark malice lurking within their charcoal black depths.

The creature staring at him now had four eyes, situated in a diamond shape around its head, although almost every single one of those creatures had the same look, save for the ones that had other mutations than just looking like some bug-eyed freak. It's jaws were slavering and tinted green, along with his teeth, almost as if they contained a deadly poison ready to sink into the flesh of anyone or anything so that the predator could watch its prey's life slip away into the icy embrace of that cold mistress called death. It's face was just as terrible, red and cracked and sometimes bleeding, while green slime oozed out of every part of its face, seeming for all intents and purposes that it seemed to drool out of its face rather than its mouth.

"_Ssstayyy…."_ It hissed out, as if it could barely speak the human language that should have once been so easy to grasp and speak for this creature, but not it was accustomed to the gibberish and unintelligible mutterings that these creatures had as a language barrier between each other than the humans that still roamed the earth. Its eyes were twitching in all directions, only the two eyes that were in a normal human's position stayed focused on him, and it continued just as horribly as it had done just a moment earlier, _"Ifffff you don't want to diiiieeee…."_

Suddenly, Piers could hear yelling and gunfire from down the street. The creature, still having a hungry gleam in its eyes like Piers could be its next meal, backed him into an alley and then it hid itself in a doorway. Several if the creatures ran past the alley, shouting and shooting gunfire back down the street at whatever it was that was chasing them.

"_Alpha Leader to H.Q., engaging a dozen or more hostiles. Repeat, engaging a dozen or more hostiles, the streets are hot in the city, the fireworks are starting. We are in pursuit down Baker Street trying to route them out of this end of the city."_

"_Copy that Alpha Leader, other teams are currently engaged with other hostiles throughout the city. Remain on mission course, route these creatures towards the rendezvous point so that we can converge on their position as one force and take them out. Orders still stand to find and care for any civilians that are still left alive in this hell hole."_

Piers sat in the alley, still controlled by shock and fear, not understanding the firefight going on in front of him even though it seemed that other people were coming to throw these creatures back out of the city. Slowly, the creatures started to be pushed back. Some of them collapsed to the ground writing in pain from gunshot wounds before their bodies would start to mutate into horrible monstrosities yet again. The ones that did not mutate simply laid there yelling in pain while their faces reformed, the unlucky mutants however, had their faces smashed in by men that came from the direction that the creatures were fleeing from. They were all dressed in full combat gear, wielding assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, and a wide assortment of what seemed like personal weaponry. They fanned out on all sides of the street, flanking the mutants as best as they could while pushing them back deeper into the city's streets.

"_H.Q. to Alpha team do you copy?"_

"_We copy H.Q."_

"_Good, continue pursuit of hostile forces deeper into the city. When at all possible search the city for any survivors of this mess so we can get them out of there and somewhere safe."_

"_Copy that H.Q. Alpha Team out."_

Piers watched as the group of soldiers slowly went by, still in a fire fight against the opposing hostile forces. Piers heard a few loud shots as if they were from a sniper rifle and everything went as quiet as a midnight on the open sea.

"_This is Eagle to Alpha Leader, the way is clear. Move on and I will pick off any stragglers we might have missed."_

"_Copy that Eagle, we'll rendezvous up ahead, be careful."_

"_Copy that, Captain. Eagle out."_

Piers watched as a soldier walked by eying his surroundings. He had a sniper rifle slung across his back and was wielding a pistol and combat knife. Piers let loose a sign of relief after the soldier walked by the entrance to the alley but froze when heard the footsteps stop and backtrack to where the entrance to the alley was. The soldier looked into the alley and caught sight of Piers cowering behind some boxes at the very end of the alley way.

"_Hey, it's alright. We're here to get you people out."_ The soldier said this softly as he approached Piers holding his palm out to show he was no threat. The man said nothing as he continued to cower behind the boxes in the back of the alley, no hint at all that he believed the soldier standing on front of him.

All of a sudden, the soldier noticed the man's eyes go even wider with fear and they seemed to be looking not _at _him but something _behind_ him. Straining his hearing, the soldier heard a door creak open almost as silently as a mouse and the slavering sound of the jaws that confirmed one of the creatures had been hiding. He looked into the eyes of the man cowering before him and winked at him. In no time flat the creature shot several rounds into his back and he forcibly planted himself to the ground. He listened and watched as the creature slowly stepped over him to the still cowering person.

"_Miiinneeee…"_ it hoarsely croaked out, eyeing the man as if it was to be his next meal.

He waited until the creature took a good distance in front of him but it was only a couple feet from the cowering man before he silently pushed himself off the ground, getting up on his feet and sneaking up silently behind the creature as it stalked increasingly nearer to his prey.

"_You might want to check to see if your target is dead before you move on to the next one, bug."_

The mutant turned around hissing wildly at the soldier. It pulled out a jagged knife, stained black and covered in dried blood with the shape of a broken ram's horn to its features. The soldier also pulled his combat knife and the two started a deadly dance of knives. The creature lunged at him, aiming to plunge his cruel blade through the soldier's heart. It did not succeed however, and while it was recovering from its wild and desperate strike the soldier kneed into his chest, throwing him backwards out of the alley and into the street. The soldier ran out after him, using his pistol to lodge several shots into the creature's torso, slowing it down. He then grabbed the creature's head with both of his hands, bringing the iron kneepad on his right leg into contact with its head as quickly and as hard as he could. Doing this shattered the creature's head, sending blood, brain matter, and skull fragments all over the street. He let the body drop to the ground, staining the ground a dark and crimson red while its body slowly crumbled into ashes to be blown away by any slight breeze that came through here.

The soldier turned and headed back down the alley he had just come from only moments earlier. _"It's ok; I'm not going to hurt you. Are you ok? Do you need any medical attention?"_

Piers just sat there in silence. He had seen hundreds of people over the last three days tortured and killed, including his own friends and loved ones. Without saying a single word to the soldier, not even in thanks for the protection he had just received, he threw a box into the soldier's face and sprinted out of the alley into the street to get away from him. He ran for all he was worth and he could hear the soldier cursing behind him because he ran.

"_Eagle to Alpha Leader, I have a fleeing civilian, permission to follow?"_

"_This is Alpha Leader. Permission granted Eagle, find that civilian and get them whatever help they need and get them to the rendezvous point."_

"_Copy that Alpha Leader, in pursuit of the civilian now. I'll get them into better shape and meet you at the rendezvous point."_

The soldier took off, following after the civilian's trail. He had to give the man some credit, he was a quick person and very adept at hiding his tracks. The soldier found it at some times to be extremely difficult to find where he went, and other times it was fairly easy, but most likely due to the recent trauma inflicted onto the people of this city.

After a couple minutes of following the trail the soldier heard noises ahead of him that sounded like shouting. He ran a little bit faster trying to stay as silent as possible. The man from before was in even worse shape now, he was being pummeled into submission by two of the B.O.W. creatures infesting the city. He had a bruised and bloody cut on his head and what looked like a stab wound in his shoulder. They were dragging him into a building but it was a chance the soldier would not let them have.

"_Eagle to Alpha Leader, I've found the civilian being taken by two of the J'avo. Engaging hostiles now."_

He unslung his sniper rifle and took aim. It took him no more than two seconds to line up his scope with one of the creature's heads and let his fly loose, taking the head clean off the shoulders of the first as it started to dissolve into ashes in the wind and the other one just let his captive fall to the ground and curl up in a ball from the pain and shock.

The second creature shouted something the soldier couldn't understand, but it took out its gun and sent a spray of bullets over in his direction. The soldier returned fire with his pistol, sending several shots into the mutants head. Luck was not on the soldier's side however, and the creature slowly began to mutate once again. This one began to grow spider's legs and other appendages and began to shoot webs in the soldier's direction. These things didn't seem to be very smart however, the soldier ducked behind a wall and the mutant started following after him wildly.

The soldier ducked behind the first alley he came to and silently, with practiced ease and speed took out his shotgun, readying it to be fired in the creature's face as soon as it got close enough to take the full brunt of the shots. The J'avo never acted as smart as they seemed to be compared to the other infected, but this one obviously thought it had one chasing the soldier into an alley way. He heard the thundering footsteps of the mutant coming ever closer, and he steeled himself to take aim as quickly as possible to kill the thing before it even had a chance to move. The creature rounded the corner and the only welcoming party it received was not that of a cowering soldier waiting to die, but three quick blasts from his shotgun into its face and body. It fell over in an instant, no blood coming out of it but just the body melting into ashes from all the holes peppering its body, almost looking akin to burning paper.

He quickly made his way over to the man who was still in a crumpled heap on the ground. _"Eagle to Alpha Leader, the civilian is safe but he needs medical attention, I'm going to have to find some place to take care of him before I can continue on to the rendezvous point."_

"_Copy that Eagle; just be careful out there, there is no telling how many more of them are still roaming around the streets."_

"_Copy that, Eagle out."_

The soldier picked the man up as carefully as he could, draping the mans uninjured shoulder over his arm so he could support most of his weight. _"C'mon, we've got to get you out of here and get you fixed up."_

"_Ughh…."_ The man made his first sound but it was only nothing more than a pained groan in response to the soldier's actions.

He took the man, staggering and gasping for breath into a one story run down building that had no windows and only a front door. It may not have been the best of places to try and hole up in, but it was better than nothing and would be easily defended it something tried to break in. Quickly, the soldier took out some First-Aid Spray and started applying it to the wounds on the man's arms, head, and shoulders, cleaning them out before bandaging them up to prevent infection.

"_Eagle to Alpha Leader, what is the status of the mission? I have the civilian with me and I am treating his wounds, although he seems to have passed out from the pain for the moment."_

"_Eagle, we are still fighting our way to the rendezvous point, the deeper in we go the more of them there are and the better positioned they are for defense. It seems that the creatures on the outskirts of the city were the idiotic and cocky ones and that's why they fell so easily. We need you back here as quickly as you can move but don't do anything to put that civilian in danger."_

"_Copy that Alpha Leader. I will treat his wounds as quickly as I can and head out with him. Just make sure if you see someone dragging someone along not to shoot them before checking out who it is."_

"_Copy that, just try not to come running in being chased by a mob of J'avo."_

"_Copy that Captain, Eagle out, see you guys soon."_

The soldier was applying first aid to the wounded man before him as quickly as he could but he was still fading in and out of consciousness. He took out a couple herbs and mixed them into some pills and slipped them into the man's mouth to see if it would help him regain some energy. It worked a little bit but the man's pulse was still dangerously slow.

"_Damn it all, c'mon don't die on me now! I can't believe I'm about to do this…"_

The soldier put his hand on the man's arm and focused himself. He poured as much of his own self as he could into his hand and he could slowly feel the man's pulse returning and quickening. The soldier breathed a sigh of relief while he had sweat starting to form on his head from the amount of energy he had to use to bring his man back from Death's front doorstep.

"_H-how are you feeling?"_ it was quite obvious listening to the soldier that he was extremely exhausted.

"_Better… w-what happened?"_

"_You were… getting your butt handed to you by some creatures… after you ran from me… f-followed you, made sure you didn't die."_

"_Um, thanks. What are you doing here, exactly?"_

"_We got here just today. We had reports of J'avo forces moving in and taking the city over, decimating its population. There have been strikes all over Europe and the European branch doesn't have enough personnel to handle everything so some of the American Branch came in to help retake some of the cities."_

"_Branches of what… exactly?"_

"_The B.S.A.A. we fight back mutants and creatures like what you saw earlier and the two that were about to drag you away and kill you. Anyway, we need to get going soon so we can get out of here, mind if I ask you your name?"_

"_My name… is Piers Nivans, these creatures killed the rest of my family so I have nowhere left to go anymore…"_

"_Hey, hey, don't worry now. We are going to get you out of here and make sure you have somewhere to go, who knows, maybe you might even find a place among the B.S.A.A. someday, and I'm V by the way."_

"_V huh? I thought I heard them calling you Eagle over the radio."_

"_Heh, Eagle is my name when we are out on missions, it's a long story on that but if one thing is for sure, it is a story I wouldn't mind telling you seeing as how I found you was one of the reasons I got the name. You ready to head on out now, Piers?"_

"_Yeah, I-I think I should be good now, I might need some help though, I'm still not feeling too good."_

"_Alright, just put your arm over my shoulder Piers and I'll get you out of this hell hole."_


	2. Chapter 2: Codenamed Eagle

Chapter 2: Codenamed *Eagle*

"It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

"_Alright, Piers, let's get your arm over my shoulder and I will get you out of this hell hole."_

Piers gave off a weak cough as he struggled to his feet with the help from the soldier. It took a minute of trial and error and a couple slight falls before the soldier was able to get Piers' good arm draped over his shoulder and around his neck so he could support the man's weight. Slowly and carefully they stepped outside the building. The street was barren and deserted but they could hear the tell-tale signs of multiple firefights going on in the distance into the city. Then they started hearing the voices of the leaders of the B.S.A.A. forces shattering the somewhat silence they had even though they could hear gunshots going off.

"_Zeta move in! Let's show these bastards how you really charge in!"_

"_Sahara, use those grenades! Let's show them how you really churn up a dust storm in the desert!"_

"_Move Echo move! Let's show these freaks how REAL snipers do their work!"_

Piers gave off another weak cough and a small laugh at that, _"Friends of yours?"_

V smiled back at him warmly, _"Sort of. I would rather go along the lines of *Brothers in Arms* to be honest. They may have sounded odd, but a lot of teams bring what I guess you would call their *signature* to the battlefield. You just heard a couple of them, Echo specializes heavily in sniper training, Sahara with explosives, and Zeta favors an all-out blitz warfare tactic, trying to overrun hostiles as quickly as they can with a brutal offense._

"_That actually sounds pretty interesting…" _Piers let that comment hang in the air for a moment while they struggled on.

V spoke to him calmly but Piers could tell he was intrigued by the comment the man he was helping just made, _"You thinking about trying to join the B.S.A.A.?_

Piers gave a little chuckle, _"Well, it might be better than just leaving you guys to protect us for the rest of our li-…"_

Piers stopped mid-sentence and V had to stop to see what the man was looking at. He was looking at a corpse that was lying on the side of the street, mutilated almost beyond recognition except for the face, which, oddly enough, was left almost completely intact. V knew that this man had some kind of connection to it, but, rather than just pulling him onward away from the gruesome sight, he helped the man struggle towards it.

Tears were starting to form in Piers' eye, _"Nat… I'm so sorry… if only I had been able to do something…"_

The soldier was not sure what to do. All he could think of to do was take the man away from this but felt somewhere deep inside that he had to have _some_ kind of closure before getting out of this city. V put his hand on the man's shoulder to try and comfort him. What V got in return was a look of such despair and sorrow that he was momentarily rooted in place.

"_I… I wasn't with them when this all started… I was just walking around… I s-saw those things coming into the city… I didn't know what to do, I just hid… then a little bit before I saw you guys, I saw them walking by with her… I didn't even try to help her… I just froze…"_

"_Hey, hey, it's ok. Not all of us have the strength we need when we want it most… just… let me check something ok?"_

Piers looked up at him questioningly but nodded his head. The soldier gently put the man on the ground and looked at the body sitting before him. It was mutilated all across the arms and legs, dozens of cuts with dried blood, but it still seemed like they were bleeding, albeit extremely slowly. He put two fingers on the girl's throat to check for a pulse. It was extremely faint; she was on the verge of death, standing on an icy slope into some place other than this.

"_There is a pulse… but it's extremely faint…"_ V handed the man one of his guns, _"I'm going to do something… but don't freak out, and just try and make sure nothing sneaks up on us…"_

Piers wasn't sure what to say but he nodded at the soldier and scanned the surrounding area, he didn't see anything out in the open or something to suggest they were begin watched. Piers looked back to the man and couldn't believe his eyes. The man had two fingers on Nat's throat, like he was checking for a pulse, but as Piers watched the cuts and wounds started to close up, turn into scars, and then look as if nothing at all ever happened. But he noticed that whatever he was doing the soldier was using a _lot_ of energy, sweat was forming in his scalp at an alarming rate and his breathing was becoming labored. Suddenly, the body snapped up, eyes full of shock and bewilderment.

"_Where… where am I?! What happened?!"_

"_Nat! You're alive!"_

"_P-Piers? What? What are you doing here? The last thing I remember I was getting dragged away by some monsters and they were ki-"_

"_H-hey… don't think about that n-now… I didn't just do all that f-for you to… go back over… the edge now… did i?"_

"_W-what do you mean, mister?"_

"_I mean, I did __**not**__ just do all that for you to remember what was happening and then p-pass out from shock. T-this is E-Eagle to Alpha Leader, do you copy?"_

"_We copy you Eagle, status report?"_

"_I… have another civilian with me now, starting to work our way down to the rendezvous, what is the situation like?"_

"_We've gotten most of the way into the center of the city but now we are getting even heavier resistance than before. Be careful out there, and when you say another civilian… did you do what I think you did?"_

"_Yes. Eagle out."_

Piers and Nat both looked at him questioningly before he turned around to look at them. He could see the questioning looks in both of their eyes but for the moment seemed to have no intent on actually explaining himself to them. All of a sudden though, while they were watching him, his body went ridged and he appeared to slump forward, there was another one of those cruel, blackened, ram's horn shaped blades being held behind him. One of the J'avo had somehow snuck up on them and nobody had even realized it.

"_Miiiinneeee…"_ it hissed out with a confident tone to its voice.

"_N-n-no! Get away from my sister you freak!"_ Then the creature turned to Piers.

"_Youuuu fffirsssstt!"_

Then something happened that they weren't expecting. The creature froze in its tracks. Then they realized why, there was a hand around the J'avo's ankle. It was squeezing the ankle so hard it was actually drawing some blood.

"_Don't you fuckers ever learn… that that shit only pisses me off even more?"_

V slowly stood up to face off against the J'avo. It turned itself around hissing from the pain and slashed at the soldier with its cruel blade. The soldier leaped back a couple feet and the J'avo went after him staggering wildly from its injured foot. The soldier shifted from one foot to the other, trying to keep the J'avo off balance by having to switch directions and feet extremely often. Once the J'avo had lunged again the soldier brought his arm up and grabbed it by the wrist and twisted it in, forcing the J'avo to drop its blade into the soldier's hand. Quickly and efficiently he plunged the J'avo's own blade back into its skull to send it crumpling to the ground in the throes of death.

Piers looked up at the soldier yet again with a scared looked to his face while he was clutching his sister ever closer to him, _"H-how did you..."_

"_How did I kill him? Let's just leave that for another day now shall we? I need to get you two out of here like yesterday."_

"_This is Eagle to Alpha. What's the sit-rep? Just got attacked by another J'avo and I'm not sure how much longer it will be before another one finds its way to us."_

"_Alpha Leader to Eagle, we are closing in on the centermost portion of the city now, their numbers are dwindling quickly. We should be done here and ready for the evacuation within a few minutes. We are sending Mars back to meet up with you and get you guys here safely."_

"_Copy that Alpha Leader, we are working our way now Dwayne Street. See you guys soon."_

This time Nat was the one who spoke up, _"Who are you guys?"_

The soldier looked at her and smiled warmly, _"We are the B.S.A.A. I'm part of Alpha Team, the one they are sending to meet up with us, Mars, is a residential member of the Del Mar team, and she is a pretty badass medic."_

"_Ok."_ Was Nat's only response.

They slowly made their way down Dwayne Street, keeping to the sides and under the overhangs of buildings and sticking to the shadows as much as they could so they didn't draw any attention. The further they went the louder the firefights began to get. The soldier figured that they were only a couple minutes away from the main fighting now, but then suddenly they heard an even closer fire fight and some crackling came over the short distance radio.

"_Mars to Eagle, do you copy?"_

"_Eagle to Mars, I copy."_

"_Good, I'm stuck in a firefight just up the road with a couple J'avo. Sit down and stay hidden until I call you back over the radio."_

"_Copy that Mars, Eagle out."_

They ducked into the very next alleyway that they came to. They were lucky because it was a dead end and there were no entrances or exits from any buildings in the alley so they would be able to just watch one direction to avoid being snuck up on. They sat there for about five minutes still listening to the sounds of gunfire. All of a sudden however, it went eerily quiet, and the soldier had to resist the urge to shout for the incoming assistance, for fear that she was the one who had just died. Then more crackling came back over the short distance radio before a familiar voice started speaking into it.

"_Mars to Eagle, the way is clear. Move on up so I can get you guys moving."_

"_Eagle to Mars, we are coming out of an alley. I have a child and her older brother with me. Coming out now."_

The soldier, Nat, and Piers, slowly walked out of the alley. They saw a woman dressed in light combat gear down the street, having on her back what seemed to be like a pack laden with medical supplies. Once they were out into the street the woman rushed up to them. She threw her arms around the soldier giving him a hug and then looked to the little girl and her older brother.

"_So, who do we have here V?"_

"_We've got a little girl here and her older brother. Found him earlier and then I guess I freaked him out, so he ran and then I had to follow him. Found him getting beat to shit by some of the J'avo. Found this little girl here on the way here and I… helped… both of them"_

It was the woman's turn to look surprised, she looked at him with worry in her eyes, _"Ok, well, while I __**am**__ grateful that you helped some people like that, you __**know**__ you have to watch it. You might be able to do more than what I can as a medic but if you aren't careful you know you might kill yourself."_

"_I know I could, and I almost did. Don't worry about that now though, let's just get these two out of here. How is the front looking? Have we managed to find anyone else?"_

The woman got a grim look on her face and her eyes had a downcast look to them when she suddenly found an interest in the ground, _"No… we haven't found anyone else that is actually alive… but the J'avo are just about finished, they were storming the last building they controlled when I was sent down this way to meet up with you guys."_

The soldier sighed and nodded towards his counterpart. The male soldier continued to support Piers' weight while he still staggered while the medic took Nat's hand and they started the long trek to the rendezvous point in the center of the city. They started to hear helicopters once they were nearing the center of the city and looked up.

"_Looks like they have called in the carriers and choppers must have taken that last building and called them in. Let's see if we can pick up the pace guys, the sooner we get out of here the better."_

"_I never thought you would be one to want to get out of the battlefield so quickly, Mars."_

She smiled at him playfully, _"Not until you decided to be the hero and do what you did today, honey."_

"_Heh, well at least once we get there and get on a chopper there will be just enough room for us I guess huh?"_

"_Yeah, it will be nice to just get a nice quiet moment while we fly back. So, what are your guys' names, if I can ask?"_

"_I'm Nat, and this is my big brother Piers!"_ she said that giving the woman walking with her one of her biggest smiles she could possibly give.

"_Nat huh, that's a pretty name for a pretty girl."_ Mars then picked Nat up and sat her on her shoulders so she didn't have to walk.

Mars observed the two that she and V were walking with. They were too young to have to deal with this kind of terror and sadness. The little girl looked to be about seven or eight years old but yet she still had the innocence of a child alive with her even after being brought back from the brink of death by V. When she looked at the little girls older brother he looked to have so much happiness in his eyes just watching his sister that Mars herself couldn't help but smile at it. Then Mars looked at both of them even closer, they both looked to have been starved horribly and she could see the outline of ribs on both of them. Mars then realized how hard it must have been for them to find food when the J'avo had invaded the city just a few days ago, and made it her resolve to get them something to eat once they got onto the helicopter.

After about three minutes of walking along they got to the rendezvous point and saw a large assortment of B.S.A.A. forces that were slowly evacuating from the city by air. Piers saw several men walk back towards them smiling at the man and woman they were walking with. Once they got closer they started talking like old friends and Piers just assumed that this was the rest of Alpha Team.

"_It's about time you guys got back here! We've been waiting forever!"_

"_Andy give them a break, you know as well as the rest of us that they found the only people left alive here."_

Andy grinned at Marco, _"I know they did! That is exactly why I was anxious for them to get back here! You think I didn't want to see the only survivors myself?!"_

Chris Redfield, the captain of Alpha Team approached the conversation, _"Now, now, Andy, I'm sure we all want to get to know the man and little girl that managed to survive this whole mess, V, Mars, can I have a word with you guys for a second while Marco and Andy here entertain our guests?"_

V and Mars both nodded at Chris. V handed Piers off to Marco who was able to carry the man's weight just as well as V, and Mars let Andy take Nat. Nat walked after Mars but when she turned around and motioned towards her brother Nat just walked over to Piers to stand by Marco and Andy. Chris was careful to make sure he took V and Mars out of earshot of the rest of the team.

"_So, what exactly happened with those two, V?"_

"_Well, Sir, the little girl's older brother you see there, he was the first one that I radioed in to you about, I think I might have scared the living shit out of him when one J'avo tried to attack him in the alley way after it thought it shot me in the back. I called it in and then followed his trail, he was pretty hard to track but at times very easy but I just chalked that up to him looking like he hadn't eaten or slept in the last three days. I found him being beaten to a pulp by a couple J'avo and managed to get one taken out with a shot to the head and then had an interesting fight with the other one… he mutated and started shooting webs all over the place. When I found the kid again, he was bleeding from his head and had a really bad stab wound in his arm. I did what first-aid I could but it wasn't helping enough to keep him alive so I… __**expended**__ some energy to help him out. Same goes for the little girl, although I found her in much worse shape, she barely had a pulse and it took a lot to bring her back from the brink of death."_

"_Alright then, fair enough, but just try not to do it to the expense of it costing your life V, there is more than just Alpha Team that needs you."_ Chris finished that sentence off nodding towards Mars, who in turn just blushed and smiled at V.

"_So, Mars, what was your take on what happened?"_

"_Well, Sir, there wasn't very much to it. I just backtracked when you sent me out and aside from two J'avo I had a shoot-out with I found those three in relatively good condition."_

"_Good, V, anything else to report?"\_

"_I'm not sure. That little girl's brother… Piers Nivans I think he said his name was, seemed interested somewhat in joining, I told him about some of the teams when he was kind of out of it and you could hear Zeta, Echo, and Sahara screaming over everything._

"_Oh really? Well then, let's go see if he might want to join the B.S.A.A. shall we?"_ After that Chris motioned to V and Mars to follow him and they walked towards the small group in question.


	3. Chapter 3: Trials

Chapter 3: Trials

"Everyone has challenges and lessons to learn - we wouldn't be who we are without them." ~Sean Combs

"_Oh really? Well then, let's go see if he might want to join the B.S.A.A. shall we?"_ After that Chris motioned to V and Mars to follow him and they walked towards the small group in question.

Walking towards the group of four that were in question, Chris took notice of how much seemed to be lifted off of the shoulders of the little girl and her brother. They were talking and laughing together despite the air of depression and death hanging over the city like a thick fog. When Chris got closer to the group the little girl's brother looked up at him with that smile still on his face, and without even thinking Chris smiled back at him, finding something heartwarming in that genuine smile he seemed to have.

"_So, I hear you might want to join the B.S.A.A. Mr. Nivans?"_

Piers rubbed at the back of his head, _"Um… yeah… but please, Mr. Nivans was my father…"_ with that Chris slightly regretted trying to be formal, as the man hung his head down dejectedly, most likely remembering that his sister was the only relative he had left from this city.

Mars and V were the ones to snap him out of his thoughts, one putting a hand on his shoulder and one grabbing his sister's hand, _"Don't worry about that now. You guys are taking a chopper with us to get out of here. Whenever you are ready to go just let us know."_

Piers looked up raising an eyebrow at that. He looked to each of the members of Alpha Team for confirmation, receiving a nod in agreement from each member of the team. Chris was still looking at him, and Piers figured this was because he was in thought of how he might be able to fit into the B.S.A.A. if he even made it through the recruitment process.

"_Yeah, I think it might be good to finally get out of this place…"_

V smiled at him warmly along with Mars,_ "Great! Let me help you up and we can all get out of here then. Mars, you want to help Nat while I get Nivans?"_

"_Sure thing V. Let's go Nat, do you like flying?"_

"_Yeah! Where are we going?"_

"_Somewhere out of this horrible place…"_ Piers muttered under his breath quiet enough to where Nat couldn't hear him but V raised an eyebrow at him in a questioning look.

After about three minutes Piers, Nat, V, and Mars, were all situated in the helicopter and ready for the helicopter to take off. Mars went in first with Nat to sit down while V was still helping Piers get into the back. When Piers was sitting down across from Mars and Nat V collapsed into the seat next to him from exhaustion. He had obviously done a lot more than what he had let on for the others to know.

"_V, are you ok? I better not have to kick your ass like I did the last time you did this."_

"_Heh, just tired is all. You know how doing that tires the living hell out of me."_

"_I know it does, but that doesn't mean I'm going to worry any less when you collapse into a chair and the two here who were stabbed and almost dead aren't."_

"_Oh stop worrying so much Mars! I'm just tired for crying out loud give me a break already!"_

Mars smirked at him, _"I'll give you a break when you realize how much I can do even though I'm just a regular medic and you are just mister super medic on the battlefield."_

Piers and Nat had been watching the conversation with some interest. They really had not been expecting the two soldiers to just start bantering back and forth. It was obvious to Piers that they were together, seeing as how Mars did not seem to be a member of Alpha Team. After a couple more minutes of their banter Piers decided to speak up and voice some questions that had started forming in his head since he had met V, Mars, and the rest of Alpha Team.

"_So, I hope you guys don't mind but… I was wondering if I could ask a few questions about all of this…?"_

"_Sure Nivans, go ahead and ask whatever you need to."_

"_Thanks, um my first question would be… why do they call you *Eagle* over the radio?"_

Mars and V both cracked up laughing for a second before they saw the confused look written on Piers' face and the questioning look Piers was getting from Nat, _"Oh, oh man sorry that's just a long story. See, I'm usually a sniper when it comes down to the missions for Alpha Team. You know how I told you earlier that a lot of the teams have their *signature* skills, like Echo team with snipers?"_

He waited for Piers to nod at him in affirmation before continuing, _"Well, Alpha Team is somewhat made of a mix of everything. We have good skills in everything we do, but we obviously excel in some more than we do in other fields. For me, that field is obviously dealing with being a sniper, or anything having to do with detail. I've got to say kid, that sigh you gave off earlier? That was pretty freaking quiet, but I'm glad I heard it, otherwise I probably would have just heard screams when that J'avo came out."_

Piers rubbed the back of his head and his face turned a few shades of red, _"Umm, yeah. Sorry about that… I hadn't really seen anyone that wasn't a mutated freak for a couple days…"_

V raised an eyebrow at Mars and she smiled back at him, _ "You might want to hold off on saying mutated freaks, or at least to some kind of extent, I mean, do you think I'm actually virus free myself?"_

Piers' brow furrowed in confusion for a second while he stared at V, trying to comprehend the words he was saying. It clicked in his head that V was saying that he had some kind of virus inside of him, possibly similar to what those creatures that had invaded his city had. He started to get up and move away from him but then V pulled him back down into his seat.

"_Really now, come on Nivans, I'm not going to __**kill**__ you. If I was __**THAT**__ far gone I would have already done it rather than saving you and your sister here."_

Piers rubbed at the back of his head and blushed again, _"Um yeah… sorry…"_

"_Hah, don't say sorry kid. Everyone was a little afraid when they first found that out, you should even hear what Mars did!"_

"_Oh no you don't V! You are __**not**__ telling him that story! It makes me look like a complete idiot!"_

"_What do you don't want him to hear how you freaked your shit when you found out all I did was have to grab on to you to bring you back from the brink of death?"_

"_Well, okay yes that did freak me out a little bit. But still…"_

"_Hah, don't worry Mars everyone is past that now. Okay so basically what happened was we were on a mission, and Mars here was our residential medic. Nobody at that time knew that I actually had a virus in me or that I even had control over it. We all got separated and I found mars alone fighting with a J'avo that ended up stabbing her and leaving her for dead. She was going in and out of consciousness while I was dragging her away and she completely freaked out when she woke up and didn't have a single mark on her. She was so freaked out that she thought I would turn at some point and went and told the Captain about me. Let's just say that it was a very awkward night for all three of us."_

Mars perked up for a moment remembering that she had her pack with her, _"Oh that reminds me! You two must be starving after all of that, here take these, they should at least help against the hunger a little bit."_

Mars handed Piers and Nat three M.R.E.s each. She didn't fail to notice though how Piers gave two of his three to his sister Nat. He was obviously very protective of her and didn't care much for his wellbeing without her coming first. A heartwarming smile came to Mars' face when she saw this, and she winked at V who had noticed it also.

"_So, Nivans, do you have any other questions for us right now?"_

"_Uh… how long did it take you guys to find out something happened to the city? I mean, everything kind of went to hell and broke down on the first day those things came in."_

"_Yeah well, all of the B.S.A.A. branches have been dealing with B.O.W. incursions lately, specifically Europe and North America. We actually only found out about this place yesterday, Jill Valentine gave the Captain notice that there were some J'avo that were trying to do more than just kill people, they were trying to make the city into a fortified stronghold. She asked the Captain to form up Alpha Team and engage the J'avo inside the city alongside several other teams from the North American branch of the B.S.A.A.."_

"_Yeah, I might not look like a member of Alpha Team but that would be because I'm not. I'm honestly not even assigned to a particular team, although most of my missions have been with Alpha Team. Captain Redfield seemed to take a liking to the fact that I am a very well trained medic."_

"_As well trained as me now are we Mars?"_

"_Okay well, maybe I'm not __**THAT**__ well trained, but I'm still good for a __**medic**__ V."_

"_Heh, okay well now that we got the whole medic thing out of the way, what are you wanting to do in the B.S.A.A. anyway Nivans?"_

Piers' brow furrowed in thought for a moment before he answered, _"I'm not actually sure what I would be doing… I mean, I've always been good with a rifle, sniping maybe?"_

"_Really now, sniping eh? Well, maybe when we touch down and get you two settled in me and Mars here might just be able to get you training from some of the more experienced personnel on base. Mars here puts almost every other medic in North America to shame and even the snipers on Echo team don't have a chance when it comes to facing off against me. What would you say to that Mars, up for teaching the kid a thing or two?"_

"_You bet I would be. But on one condition, little Nat here follows in someone's footsteps, someone is going to have to keep an eye on her brother now eh?"_

"_Definitely true Mars, hey Nat, would you want to join the B.S.A.A. someday?"_

Nat had been quiet for almost the entire conversation, just sitting and intently listening in on everything that the adults had said, _"Yeah! Big brother always gets into trouble!"_

Piers absently rubbed at the back of his head, smiling at his little sister, _"Alright Nat, but you have to wait until you're older before you get to do anything."_

Nat put on a frown and tried to get Piers the puppy eyes look but it didn't work this time, _"Nat, I'm serious. No puppy dog eyes, you __**have**__ to wait until you are older."_

"_Oh fine, don't take all the fun away though Piers! You always get all the fun stuff before I get to help out!"_

After about another three hours the helicopter sat down at a B.S.A.A. base. Mars and V took Nat and Piers into the mess hall to get them something to eat while they awaited the arrival of the rest of Alpha Team.

~Chris on the way to the B.S.A.A. base:

"_Jill, we cleared out the city and unfortunately we only found two survivors. Looks like their names are Piers and Natalia Nivans. They were pretty shaken up but I think they will pull through. Just as well, the brother, Piers, expressed interested in wanting to join the B.S.A.A. after one of my men got him away from a couple J'avo."_

Jill sighed into the phone, she was getting unusually used to Chris and his antics with the survivors, _"__**Chris**__ you __**know**__ there are __**protocols**__ we follow concerning recruitment right? You can't just go around the world saving people and just let them join the B.S.A.A. at the slightest hint of interest. They have to pass a series of tests before we can even __**consider**__ them being eligible to join; this work isn't for the faint of heart."_

"_Jill, I know this work isn't for the faint of heart are you forgetting who you are talking to? Besides, I'm pretty sure he can stomach anything we have to go through. He went face to face with J'avo and almost died, and from what I'm hearing he even saw his sister brought back from Death's doorstep, if that doesn't break him I don't think anything will."_

"_Brought back from Death's doorstep… do you mean that sniper of yours? He __**brought**__ someone back, __**AGAIN?!**__"_

"_Jill, calm down, it's not as serious as you think. It's not like he is going around bringing people back to life that are already dead, he can't even do anything if someone is dead, he can only do it on people that have even a miniscule pulse, and the further gone they are the closer it brings __**him**__ to death as well."_

Then the third voice of their conversation poked in his two cents, _"C'mon Jill give the old bear a break! I say give the kid a chance if he seriously wants to join you guys! I mean look at me, I've done just as much as Chris has and I'm not even part of the B.S.A.A."_

"_I know Leon, and that is why I'm wondering why I even brought you into this conversation."_

"_Maybe because I'm the one who tipped you guys off to the J'avo trying to make a stronghold in that city?"_

"_Good point…"_

"_Then consider this payment of a debt for information huh? Just let the man try out, survivor or not, and if he doesn't make it he doesn't make it, I mean what can be the harm in giving him a chance at something else? Something beyond mindless war? You never know, you might be thanking us in the long run for talking you into this."_

"_Leon, you haven't even talked me into anything yet. But… I guess we could at least let him __**try**__…"_

"_Great! Nice to see you finally came around to the other side of the table Jill! Now I got to go Hunnigan needs me, I'll catch up with you guys some other time!"_ With that there was a beep indicating that Leona S. Kennedy had left the three way conversation, and now it just rested between Jill and Chris.

"_So, Jill, you __**are**__ going to at least give the man a chance right?"_

"_Yeah I guess so Chris, for your sake though; I just hope he is worth the time and effort of training him and getting him into a squad if he passes the tests. If he does, I'm putting him under __**your**__ squad, so you better be ready to go with it."_

"_Jill you know I can handle it. I __**will**__ handle it, for good or bad I want this kid to join my team, so thanks for putting him under my command. Now, I'll call you in a couple days with an update, helicopter is about to touch down at the base. See you later!"_

"_See you later, Chris." _With that the conversation was over and Chris was ready to step off of the helicopter with the rest of his team.

~Piers (Mess hall)

Piers and Nat had been enjoying themselves in the mess hall with V and Mars. They got to learn a lot more about the two of them and a little bit more about Alpha Team themselves. They learned that Chris Redfield had been leading the team since it was created, although V says that he himself has been dealing with Viruses since they were first starting to be created. He mentioned that he was a test subject for one of the "enhanced" viruses, although he doesn't specifically remember which one it was, instead of creating a mutant creature bent on world destruction, it gave him an uncanny healing ability.

Piers decided to ask V a question about his abilities, _"So, V, when did you first find out about your ability to be able to heal people?"_

V raised an eyebrow, and then sat silently for a moment while he tried to think of an answer to give to Piers, _"Hmm… I think… hmm. Well, I found out that it worked specifically for __**me**__ when someone had tried to kill me and it didn't so much as even faze me. In all honesty whenever they tried to kill me it just pissed me off even more, so I guess it can sometimes be tied into my emotions like anger or protectiveness. I mean, I have learned a lot about it over the years and now I can control it to pretty much any extent I might need it in a fight. The first time I found out I could use it on other people however… it wasn't with Mars, although she is one of the few that I have helped in that way, hmm…"_

Mars gave V a playful shove to the shoulder, _"Oh don't tell me your abilities don't apply to your memory as well V!"_

V raised an eyebrow at her, _"Well you know… I never thought about it like that…"_

Mars gave him a weak smile, _"Seriously? You never thought of trying it on your memory?"_

"_No not really, I never had a reason until now to actually need to remember something like that. Hmm…"_

Looking back on it only a few short minutes later, V realized that may not have been something he wanted to do. His ability worked with his memory alright, but it worked a little _too_ well. Images came rushing back into his head so fast, everything like a perfectly clear HD movie, they came back so quick they almost knocked him out. Countless people dying, countless monsters being smashed, all the different viruses, creatures chasing him, some not seen in years and never by anyone other than him, these are things he used to have nightmares about until they suddenly just stopped all together.

"_H-holy shit! Fuck! Oh god that just fucking hurt like hell!"_

Mars put her hand on his shoulder, obviously worried and distressed over his sudden outburst after he started clutching his head,_ "V! Are you okay?!"_

"_Yeah just, oh god I wasn't expecting that. It's like everything from the past thirty years just flooded into my head all at once. Well, I might not really remember the person name, but I got stuck in a place with a lot of those mutants from the early viruses. They got wounded somehow and I kind of lost it. I was kneeled over them crying, I think I was like fourteen or fifteen maybe, and they were the only person I had really gotten to know for like two years. He had been taking care of me and he was like family to me. All I remember right now is freaking out when he was just lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and then I woke up a few days later and he was still watching over me, I was exhausted to no end and he was looking at me like I had just killed his mother. That is when he told me what I did and I didn't believe him at first, I mean what fourteen fifteen year old kid is going to believe they just saved someone's life that ought to be dead right?"_

Just as he was finishing that sentence, Captain Chris Redfield entered the mess hall and made his way over to their table. Something in the way he walked had changed and he had an eager and happy look on his face. Once he got to the table he sat down on V's left, across from Piers. He looked around the table still smiling at everyone before he delivered the news.

"_Well, I just got off the helicopter and I was having a conversation with Jill and Leon._

"_So? What's up with them Chris?"_

"_Not much with Leon, he was kind of helping me win Jill over."_ That is when Chris looked to Piers, _"Looks like you can take the tests to join the B.S.A.A. Nivans, and you have none other than V and Mars to help train you."_


	4. Chapter 4: Training

Chapter 4: Training

"Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having, except as a result of hard work." ~ Booker T. Washington

Note: Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry that I did not upload this right away, I have been watching it on Archive and forgot to actually post it on here, I will HOPEFULLY have Chapter 5 up and going tomorrow (no promises!) because with the new Resident Evil Revelations on Wednesday I will probably be absorbed into it for at least a day or two, and obviously no promises because I have other stuff i need to get writing tomorrow (damn college!)

"_Not much with Leon, he was kind of helping me win Jill over."_ That is when Chris looked to Piers, _"Looks like you can take the tests to join the B.S.A.A. Nivans, and you have none other than V and Mars to help train you."_

Piers sat there in silence while he was looking at the man who had just delivered the news he was hoping to hear. He can join the B.S.A.A.! So then, why did Piers feel so anxious? He wanted to join the B.S.A.A., he truly did, but for some reason he had a foreboding sense of dread in the back of his head and couldn't quite place it on what. V, Mars, and Nat all put their hands on his shoulder congratulating him and the only response he could give them was a weak smile, still just sitting there with his eyes wide open.

Mars was the first one to say something, _"Hey, Nivans, are you ok?"_

"_Y-yeah, um… thanks, Captain Redfield…"_

"_Nivans? You sure you're okay?"_

"_Y-yeah, I just… wasn't really expecting it to be that easy to be able to join."_

Chris smirked at him, _"You haven't joined yet, you've just been given a chance to take the recruitment tests is all, and you have Mars and V here to help train you for them."_

"_T-thank you Captain Redfield, um… when do I start my training?"_

"_Well, that would be up to Mars and V here when that starts, but I will leave you guys to it. I will see you all tomorrow."_

"_Good night, Captain."_

Chris finished that conversation off by walking away giving Piers a warm smile with which Piers returned in kind. Chris held Piers' gaze for a second, and he couldn't help but wonder what is was about that smile that made him so happy. Then, after Chris left, the discussion turned to be between Mars, V, and Piers, about the training that they would soon be starting.

"_So, Nivans, when do you want to start, and what do you want to start with?"_

"_Uh, I guess whenever you guys feel like starting yourselves, as to what to start with, I'm not really sure to be honest."_

Mars raised an eyebrow to V, _"Well, what would you say to starting tomorrow with some tactical and rescue training, Nivans?"_

"_Sounds good I guess."_

"_Alright then, Nivans! Here, let's get you and Nat a place to sleep for the night me and V should have some extra room at our place you can use."_

"_Thank you, Mars, V."_

"_Heh, heh, no problem kid, you better just make sure you pass the recruitment tests, we can't be watching over your sister for the rest of our lives now can we?"_ Piers understood the playful banter V was trying to throw at him, but for the first couple of seconds he took that the wrong way and thought V was trying to call him weak.

Mars and V led Piers and Nat to their place. They opted to let Piers and Nat stay in the bedroom and guest room while they slept on the couch in the front of their so called *home* while they were on base. Mars cooked up a meal for both Piers and Nat while V got them situated in their rooms. After a short while of talking and eating and just generally relaxing from the day, everyone slipped off to sleep. Piers and Nat seemed to have finally caught a break from the chaotic four days they have just experience, but Piers would hope too soon however, as his night would be filled with very vivid and horrible nightmares that he might never be able to make sense of.

Piers, Mars, and V, were trapped in some god forsaken city in the middle of nowhere. Alpha Team had been sent in on an extermination mission to rid the city of B.O.W. and J'avo forces. Alpha Team in its entirety was slipping quietly into the city, not a single person however, realized the mistake of sending any amount of people into the city. Alpha Team was quietly slipping in between the alleys, doorways, and buildings on the outskirts of the city, working their way to the center to see if they found any hostiles. Behind enemy lines however, nobody had yet realized the danger they were in, that the enemy was waiting for them, watching them as they went on a fool's errand and a suicide mission.

A firefight broke out suddenly between Alpha Team and ever increasing J'avo forces, Mars and V were separated from the rest of the team along with Piers, and the only one Piers recognized from the other group as they were forced to split ways was Chris. Piers did not miss the look that Chris shot toward their group, fear and regret being masked in his face but present in his eyes at the thought of this mission causing anyone's death.

Piers, Mars, and V slowly made their way around the city, hoping to hook back up and get into contact with Alpha Team. They could hear the sounds of rescue helicopters off in the distance, but they would still have to fight their way to the emergency rendezvous in order to escape.

"_Alpha Leader to Eagle, we are currently holed up at escape point Delta, what is your position?"_

"_Captain, we are currently working our way towards point Ch- LOOK OUT!"_

V had to cut off his response to the rest of Alpha Team as a storm squad of J'avo jumped from a nearby rooftop aiming to send their cruel blades into the humans trying to fight their way to the rest of their team. Two of the J'avo leaped a little too far and ended several yards in front of the three person team. The lead J'avo came down almost on top of V but was too slow to react to the soldiers enhanced reflexes. As the J'avo came down on top of him to thrust the blade into his shoulder, V quickly stepped back grabbing the hand the J'avo was using to wield the blade, V twisted it out of his grasp letting it clatter to the ground and knocked the J'avo's legs out from under it. V lunged for the blade, picking it up before the J'avo could recover and plunging it deep into its skull so fiercely that the blade was shattered into the concrete and remained stuck. Piers and Mars quickly took out pistols and took aim, firing at the two remaining J'avo in front of them.

The three of them took off as quickly as they could. Before they knew it they had dozens more J'avo rushing down the street after them, shooting from all directions, forcing them to constantly duck behind objects to avoid being hit. They were nearing point Delta and saw the firefight taking place between J'avo hostiles and the rest of Alpha Team. Mars quickly grabbed out an incendiary grenade and threw it into the mass of J'avo that had yet to see them coming from behind, and were promptly set on fire, burning alive.

Things took a turn for the worst. They were still about three hundred yards from the rest of Alpha Team when a large armored creature came out of nowhere and swiped at them, catching only Mars and sending her flying back down the street some fifty feet. Thankfully, she didn't die or fall unconscious but she still stood back up, pain obvious in her face and she was gripping her side while limping like she had a fractured leg.

"_Mars! C'mon hurry! I'll distract it!"_

"_No! Get out of here, you guys still have something to look forward to, I'll keep it busy long enough for you to run, just get out of here!"_

Piers saw the distressed look in V's eyes, he looked defeated. He wanted to help her more than anything in the world but knew it was no use; the creature was too heavily armored for any of their weapons to do anything. Piers thought it would be a wild card, but he took aim with his rifle, he found a chink in its armor and let a shot ring out through the street. It barely seemed to phase the monster, and it just simply turned its head and glared at Piers with a venomous look that froze him in place. That however, did not last long; Mars soon had the creature's attention again, pulling out her shotgun to send spray after spray of bullets into the creature while throwing a frag grenade under it to grab its attention. Sadly, none of these things seemed to do more than annoy the creature and make it that much harder to deal with it.

"_Nivans! Get V out of here now! Hurry up before this thing turns around again!"_

Piers grabbed V and slowly started dragging him up to point Delta to get to the evacuation chopper. It was made all the more difficult by V's constant fighting, trying to get away from Piers to go and help Mars. Once Piers reached the rest of Alpha team Chris came out to help him drag V with them as well. They all got into the chopper, and it was soon taking three people to keep V in the chopper and not bolt down the street to help with the ensuing fight.

"_No, damn it! Let me out of this fucking chopper!"_

"_Soldier, you are staying in this chopper and that is an ORDER! Pilot get us out of here now!"_

"_Captain?! Captain what the fuck! We can't just leave her here! What the fuck are you thinking?!"_

The helicopter started rising into the air. V was still fighting like hell to get off of the helicopter, Piers, Chris, and some men whose faces he couldn't see were still helping them hold him before he jumped out. The next thing Piers knew, from somewhere in the city they could hear a maniacal laugh followed by a blood curdling scream that sent shivers down Piers' spine. Piers saw a flare rise up above the city, and then an explosion rocked his vision.

Piers jolted awake from his nightmare in a cold sweat. It was running down his face and his hands were clammy, and suddenly, the room felt very cold and foreboding. Piers decided to try and get some air, so he quietly went out of the room to go outside. Luckily, Mars was still asleep, although he did not see V anywhere; he still crept by as silently as he could. Once he got outside he was able to breathe a sigh of relief, relishing in the cool feeling of the early dawn air. It was a nice change of scenery from the hell he had been living in before he met Alpha Team. The sun was coming up but he could still see the barest glint of stars in the sky, colors spreading out over the horizon for as far as Piers could see, the sky was turning multiple shades of red orange and yellow, making it appear to be like a fiery sea floating above his head. Then, Piers heard two people talking, and he heard his name fluttering by once in a while in the conversation. Now, eavesdropping may not have been something Piers usually did, but he decided to do it this one time, just to see what was going on, but what he found was V talking with Chris about him and his training.

~V (Before Piers woke up eavesdropping)

Mars and V had gone to bed on the couches, leaving the guest room and their personal room for Nat and Piers to sleep in. They had been asleep for a few hours before V's phone started to buzz. They both woke up and Mars walked over to it, Chris' number was displayed on the screen, she tossed it to V.

"_Boss is calling you, what do you think he wants?"_

"_Not sure, but it can't hurt to find out I suppose… but it is kind of strange to be calling at what… three thirty in the morning? God, he must really be stressing out over something or other."_

V answered the phone, _"This is V, did you need something Captain?"_

"_Yeah, I was wondering if I could talk to you about the Nivans kids."_

"_Um, sure Captain, where to?"_

"_Just come on down to my office, its nothing formal, I just wanted to get some of your insight into this whole thing."_

"_Alright Captain, I'll be there in a couple minutes,"_ V sighed hanging up the phone, _"Boss wants to have a little chat. I'll catch you later Mars? Make sure if the Nivans kids need anything that they get it, hopefully I can get back before they wake up though, see you later hun."_

Mars smiled and kissed V on the cheek, _"See you later, don't stay gone too long now, this living room is lonely enough with just the two of us sleeping on the couch, but hey at least I can get some extra sleep unlike you."_ She finished that smirking at V who just rolled his eyes walking on out the door.

V headed on out the door taking a left as he did to head down to Chris' office. He opened up the door to find Chris pacing around his office, reading a file and drinking black coffee, _**again**_, as if he didn't drink enough of that stuff already, it wasn't good for him to be drinking it this early in the morning, and by the looks of it, he was pulling an all-nighter _**again. **_When V got into the room Chris noticed him and motioned for him to come over and look at the file he was holding. It was a file on Piers, apparently he had tried joining the military before everything in his city went to shit.

_***Name: Piers Nivans**_

_***Height: 6' 3"**_

_***Weight: 164 lbs.**_

_***Hair color: Brown**_

_***Eye color: Hazel**_

_***Skills: Exceptional in the field of marksmanship. Attention to detail is unsurpassed among his peers. Prefers to keep to himself when around others that he finds to be *untrustworthy* or unlike what his definition of a good soldier is, specifically being well trained and disciplined, rarely messing around, also very protective of family and those that he considers to be friends.**_

_**Tests: **_

_**Mile run: Finished over two minutes before anyone else.**_

_**Aim: Missed zero targets out of one hundred and fifty. No other applicants had nearly the same accuracy, second highest being that of seventy-two out of one hundred and fifty targets.**_

_**Scoping: Pays very close attention to even the most minute of details when watching through a scope. Slightest movement made when taking the scoping challenge landed a target shot right in front of the *target* before a full step is even taken.**_

_**Advantages/Strengths:**_

_**Applicant is extremely disciplined and obedient to commanding officers, does not shake off responsibility as much as other applicants and finishes tasks in a timely and efficient matter. Applicant is also very quick to judge changes in appearances and situations, being able to diffuse problems between other applicants with ease.**_

_**Disadvantages/Weaknesses:**_

_**Applicant does not take well to conversing with other applicants. Applicant prefers to take on the responsibilities of an entire team without relying on the help of others on the field. Applicant is able to diffuse situations between others easily but finds himself at a loss for contact with other applicants, favoring to stay alone and out of sight of the rest.**_

V looked at Chris with his eyebrow raised in a questioning gesture, _"So, why exactly do you want me to read his file? What am I supposed to be getting out of this exactly?"_

"_I'm not sure to be honest; I just thought that might help a little bit. I just wanted to see how your first impression of him was, and if you think he might be cut out for this line of work."_

"_Well, from what I can tell from his file, he looks as if he would make a good sniper. Although it may be somewhat solitary for him, what is listed as a *Weakness* on his file can prove to be a strength if it is needed for him to take out a target using a long range rifle. The file also suggests that he was trying to join the military before the B.S.A.A. ever showed up, so that might be why he expressed interest in joining us, seeing as how we saved him from that hell hole he was in. As for not being friendly or only conversing with people he considers to be friends, I would say me and Mars probably fall into that category pretty well. It didn't take much more than bringing his sister back to him to earn his trust, and rightly so as this file states he is very protective of his family."_

"_That's good, but what would you think of him as a member of Alpha Team?"_

"_Well, Sir on that subject I am not entirely sure. I mean, when you first got me I didn't work too well with the team but now look at us. So my only guess would be that he might do poorly at first until he starts to learn to work with the team as part of a well-oiled machine."_

"_That's good, so I guess I just have another Eagle sitting in a nest for me eh?"_

"_Hah, I guess you could say something like that, but Captain, let's go out for a bit, it can't be good for you to be drinking all that coffee."_

"_I guess… but that doesn't mean I'm going to __**stop**__ drinking this if that is what you are trying to get me to do."_

"_Not at all Captain, just away from the pot so you can't make any more of that garbage."_ V smirked at him while leading the way out of his office and back down the street.

"_Coffee isn't garbage…"_ Chris trailed off following behind V.

"_No, it's not, but the stuff you drink is, honestly how many cups have you had in the last day, a dozen or so?"_

"_No… more like three or four…"_

"_Sure Captain, whatever you say."_

"_Anyway, what are you guys starting that Nivans kid on for practice?"_

"_Mars figured we would start him off with some tactical and rescue training, see how well he does with strategy and rescue detail."_

"_Sounds good, V, don't push him too hard, don't want him to leave the squad now that it seems we have another promising sniper in our midst."_

"_Sure thing Captain,"_ V's voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, _"Wait here for a second, heard someone moving up ahead, and might be eavesdropping on us."_

V rounded the corner quickly and silently. He found Piers on the other side of the wall with his back to it, hands covering his face and he looked like he was trying to forget something. V walked up and put his hand on Piers' shoulder and he almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden contact.

"_U-um, hi, V…"_

"_Hey Nivans, what are you doing out here this early in the morning? You should be resting up for the day."_

"_I… um…"_ Piers decided to give V a half truth, although he wasn't really accustomed to lying he found it embarrassing to outright say that he was eavesdropping on them, _"I… couldn't sleep… had a nightmare…"_

"_Oh really?"_ V asked while motioning around the corner for someone to come up to them, _"Don't worry about it too much Nivans, everyone has demons that they would rather forget. It's nothing to be scared of."_

"_Well, I mean… it was a nightmare but, it wasn't something I've ever had before..."_ Piers trailed off as he saw who V was motioning to, it was the captain of Alpha Team, Chris Redfield.

"_It's alright Nivans, tell V what it was. Nightmares or not a lot of things hold meaning even as we sleep."_

"_Alright, well… it started off with Alpha Team being deployed into some city, and then on the way in it was completely quiet. After a few minutes the team got split into two, Mars, V, and me, and the rest of the team was off at what they said was point Delta. We were working our way over from point Charlie to Delta and got ambushed by a J'avo storm squad, which they didn't really take too long to deal with. After that an extremely armored creature came out of nowhere and tried to swipe at us when we were making our way down the street to point Delta. It missed me and V but it sent Mars flying down the street, she looked like she had a broken leg. After that… um…"_

V raised his eyebrow at him, _"Don't stop now Nivans, don't tell me it was that horrible that your memory just suddenly evaporated."_

"_Well… she told us to keep going, and she kept it busy… I had to literally drag you to the helicopter and get several other people to keep you in there, including the Captain, and… not even two minutes later um… there was a blood curdling scream that shook my spine and it sounded like it was from over half a mile away… the last thing that happened was hearing a maniacal laugh and then a flare went up into the sky and like five seconds later an explosion rocked the world and I woke up…"_

"_A flare huh…"_

"_Yeah… why?"_

"_Nothing, just go and try to get some rest for later ok Nivans? Need you up in three hours to start your training."_

"_Alright, um, thanks guys. See you later."_

"_See you, Nivans." _Chris was the one to respond to Piers, giving him a warm and affectionate smile as he trudged away back to Mars' and V's quarters.

~3 hours later

"_Nivans, Nat, wake up! Breakfast is ready!"_

Piers and Nat both came into the room, Nat bounding around happy as can be and Piers looking groggy from his interrupted sleep earlier that morning, _"So, you guys hungry enough yet to finally have a good meal again?"_

"_You bet Aunt Mars!"_

Mars chuckled at Nat and ruffled her hair, _"Aunt Mars huh? I think that sounds pretty good, what about you Nivans?"_

Nivans smiled warmly at Mars despite the bad night that she could see in his eyes, _"Yeah, think that sounds pretty good, how you doing Nat?"_

"_I'm doing good Piers! What's for breakfast Aunt Mars?"_

Mars chuckled while looking down at Nat,_ "Bacon, eggs, pancakes, and some orange juice, how does that sound to you two?"_

Piers smiled at the comforting Mars was giving to Nat, _"Sounds great, go ahead and dig in Nat, I need to talk with Mars and V for a second."_

Mars raised her eyebrow at Piers with V watching, but allowed herself to be lead away so that the three of them could talk, _"I just have one curious question, we're starting with tactical training right? So, what am I doing in that?"_

Mars and V both smirked at Piers, _"Why, trying to outsmart us, of course. Now eat up so we can go get started Nivans."_


	5. Chapter 5: Testing

Chapter 5: Testing

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself." ~Henry Ward Beecher

Mars and V both smirked at Piers, _"Why, trying to outsmart us, of course. Now eat up so we can go get started Nivans."_

Piers, Mars, and V all went back to the table to eat breakfast. Nat was busy digging herself in and enjoying having a nice place to stay after the last few days of hell. Nat was intently watching her brother and her newly deemed aunt and uncle talk about the day's work ahead.

"_Hey Piers, do I get to come watch you guys?"_

Piers ruffled her hair and looked towards Mars and V, _"I don't know, could she?"_

Mars smiled, _"Of course she could! It's not like anything bad is going to happen out there, we aren't even using real bullets, just blanks. She can watch from the sidelines and be the referee if she wants to."_

"_Oooh yeah! Can I be the referee Piers?"_

"_Of course you can Nat, just make sure you pay attention ok?"_

"_Ok Piers!"_

Mars and V smiled at Piers and Nat's playful talk, remembering what their lives used to be like before the viruses started spreading across the world. After they were all done eating they walked down to the training armory to get outfitted for training. Mars was in her usual light combat gear that befits a medic, and V was wearing medium gear although he didn't seem to care what kind of armor he had on as long as he could move. Piers opted for light armor that would allow the most movement while they went into training for the day. Mars gave him a pistol for close combat, and V gave him a rifle with a scope on it.

Andy walked into the training armory as they were all suiting up, _"So what do we have here huh? A little two on one match between Eagle and his medic against the newbie?'_

Mars smirked at Andy, _"Still mad that you couldn't outsmart us huh Andy? You should know by now that it takes a lot more to get V than it does to get me."_

Andy laughed at Mars then looked at Piers, _"Kid, if you want some advice, get V before you get Mars, he's a lot more of a threat than she is."_ Andy finished that off by winking at V who just chuckled in response.

Mars looked over at Andy, _"Oh, and just what is that supposed to mean Andy?"_

Andy chuckled, _"Oh come on now Mars, we all know that you are just the Eagle's chick."_

V had a laugh at Mar's expense before responding to Andy, _"She may be my *chick* Andy, but she knows how to fly solo unlike you."_

Andy's face flushed with embarrassment, _"One time you save my ass and suddenly I can't take care of myself?"_

V's tone turned cold and deadly serious, _"No, it's because if I hadn't shot that J'avo you would have been to far gone that even __**I**__ wouldn't have been able to help you Andy."_

Andy nodded in understanding before turning back to Piers and clearing his throat, _"Well… um yeah, like I said, just take out V first."_

Piers nodded back in affirmation before turning to look between Mars and V, _"Ready to go?"_

"_Whenever you are ready Nivans."_

Mars, V, and Piers walked down to the training grounds to find out what terrain they would be using as Nat tagged along to be the referee. They settled on an *abandoned* building surrounded by a thick forest. Mars and V took up positions in the building while Piers started off in the woods. He would nee to figure out how to storm a building against superior odds.

Piers set up his scope and began watching the building. He saw Mars poke into a window once in a while but held his fire, figuring that this was to try and alert V to his hiding spot. Piers began setting up some of his gear to try and trick them into coming out in the open. Once had set it up he took a shot, and he was correct, V immediately shot where he had set up the gear, thinking that he got Piers, V stood up from behind a window. That is when Piers had his chance and took it, they could all hear Nat yell into the speakers _"Uncle V is out!"_ and Piers continued to look for Mars.

Piers decided on a frontal move and proceeded on sneaking up to the building to find Mars. Before entering he heard V and Mars talking inside.

"_Well V, I have to say, I was definitely not expecting the kid to be so… resourceful to say the least."_

V chuckled, _"Well it's not every day you find someone like him. Really though, I was surprised, first person I have seen with the ingenuity to do that."_

Mars laughed, _"Scared of being out-done now are we hun?"_

V stealthily replied, _"Not so much, because I am pretty sure he can still get you, sweety."_

The second that Mars started to say ***What do you mean?*** Piers through a flash bang into the room. Mars was blinded by the sudden flash bang not expecting it, but V had been expecting some kind of move by Piers and shielded his eyes before the grenade went off. Piers marked Mars with a few blanks and then Nat yelled _"__**Aunt Mars is out! Piers won the game!"**_ And today's tactical training was done after they headed out to go take a break for lunch.

They all headed back over to Mar's and V's quarters. They started chatting about the tactical training and how they would go about the rescue training.

"_So, Nivans, pretty good job with using the decoy. First recruit I've seen that ever thought about trying to use deception as a tool for battle, very nicely done."_

Piers smiled at the compliment, practically glowing with happiness, _"Thanks, but Mars was pretty obvious with trying to get me to fire, she came out at almost predictable intervals."_

Mars scoffed at Piers, _"As if, it's not like it wouldn't work on a J'avo, those things will shoot anything and everything that moves and doesn't smell like them."_

V laughed, _"True, but you should always remember to check your surroundings instead of chatting with a *dead* man, hun."_

Mars blushed _"Yeah well… so what are we doing for rescue training?"_ Mars tried to change the subject and succeeded because Piers was all to eager to hear this.

"_Well, might need to get the rest of Alpha Team to join in on this one but I thought maybe we should start it as a f-"_ V was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing.

V walked over and picked up his phone, the I.D. on the phone showed that Chris was calling, _"Need something, Captain Redfield?"_

"_Yeah, I hope you guys are all suited up because H.Q. needs us to bail Echo team out of a jam. Meet me and the rest of the team at the chopper as soon as you can."_

"_Copy that Captain Redfield."_

V looked to both Mars and Piers and sighed, _"Looks like we can't get two days of rest around here. Echo bit off more than they can chew, Captain needs us down at the chopper asap, Nat, sorry but you have to stay here, keep an eye on the place for us alright?"_

Nat pouted and gave each of them a hung, _"Alright but don't be gone too long, I get really lonely"_

Piers bent down to give his sister a hug, _"Don't worry, we won't be gone that long Nat."_ with that the three went out the door and headed to the helicopter that was ready to lift into the air.

Chris was in the front of the helicopter when Mars, Piers, and V got onboard and seated in. Chris came out to brief the team on the mission when he saw Piers. His eyes widened for am moment and looked to mars and V for an explanation.

"_So… are you guys sure about bringing him along? I know he hasn't seen any real combat with J'avo yet."_

V explained or them, _"Captain I'm sure he can hold his own if he can outsmart me and Mars, J'avo don't stand a chance."_ The rest of the team looked at Piers in awe, and he blushed from being the center of attention among a group of hardened veterans.

Chris nodded in understand. Chris went on about explaining their mission, looking at Piers a few more times than necessary. Echo team was pinned down outside of a nearby city. They were sent in to pick off B.O.W. targets that strayed into their sights. What they did not count on however, was for the entire city to come alive for revenge. The leader of Echo team saw a large B.O.W. lumbering around the city, it had mutated to about five times the size of a normal human. It had four almost spider-like legs, with its skin a sickly dry and cracked brown color, almost like tree bark. Echo team could not see any other B.O.W.s around but when they took a shot the creature simply turned and roared. The entire city came to life then, J'avo, even some regular humans dressed as mercenaries, and several other types of B.O.W.s came rushing out after them.

Alpha team set down about half a mile from Echo's last known location. They were in a dense forest but the closer to the city they came the more necrotic and dead the landscape became, as if it was suffering from the effects of Bio-Terrorism just by the B.O.W.s being nearby. It soon turned from a forest that seemed to be growing, to a dusty and cracked dirty ground. It was as if they stepped from an oasis into the middle of the desert, trees were so dry they might catch on fire, bushes once green and full of life were not barren and brown.

Alpha Team split into two groups. Mars, V, and Piers headed off in one direction to set up positions to use in case they had to start taking out B.O.W.s. Chris and the rest of the team went off to find Echo. Alpha has been gone about fifteen minutes now, and the group of three was starting to become worried.

Piers was the first to voice the concerns of the entire group, _"Where do you guys think they are?"_ Piers also gave Mars and V a skeptical and questioning look which they returned in kind, not sure what to be thinking right now.

V and Mars were saved from a response however; Alpha came into view dragging the remnants of Echo Team along with them. Mars herself gasped at the sheer numbers of B.O.W.s following them. V and Piers stared into their scopes, Mars ran out to help get Echo Team to safety, providing covering fire from the rear of the group to help stop any B.O.W.s that got too close. There was over one-hundred B.O.W.s bearing down on the group, but thanks to Alpha's snipers, those numbers were soon dropping.

A J'avo with a blade was gaining on Chris who was dragging along the leader of Echo team who appeared to have a broken leg. Chris looked back just as the J'avo got to them, but before it could do anything Piers shot it clean through the head, its now lifeless body slumping to the ground.

Suddenly, a giant creature came roaring from behind enemy lines. Piers and V both started to ignore the J'avo and stared at it through their scopes intently. The creature seemed to have no care for the other B.O.W. forces in front of it and barreled through them without concern. Piers was the first to notice some of its weaknesses. One of the soldiers had thrown an incendiary grenade at it, it briefly caught on fire stumbling around but it was smart enough and quick enough that it swatted out the fires. That is when Piers noticed one of its weaknesses, and alerted V so that they could both take advantage of it.

"_It has no armor on the eyes."_ Piers said with grim determination.

Piers and V both took aim on the creature, trying and failing to shoot it directly in the eye, then Piers remembered the fire.

"_Mars, throw an incendiary on that thing!"_

Mars did as she was asked and the grenade landed right at the creature's feet. It stood in place almost completely, viciously swatting at the flames lapping their way across its bodies. Piers took the chance while the head was barely moving and fired. The creature reeled back in pain; Alpha team was now only fifty yards from the forest's border with this dried up wasteland.

The creature slowly turned back, covering its unarmored eyes with his hands, its left eye was gone but they still had to worry about the incoming J'avo. When Piers had taken his shot and scored a hit V had turned his attention toward the J'avo, sniping one that was behind Andy and Athena (Echo's second in command) saving them with maybe only three feet to spare.

Chris was the first to make it to the tree line, the others only about twenty yards behind. V and Piers got out of position and went to join with Mars who was at the rear of the group covering their retreat. As quickly as they could the two teams retreated back into the woods to the awaiting helicopters that had the rest of the Del Mar team on guard duty. Mars, V, and Piers were still at the rear of the group, now about twenty yards into the forest, and were still shooting down J'avo that were yet to make it to the trees. The strangest thing they had ever seen happened, upon reaching the tree line the J'avo stopped and looked around, they seemed lost and confused looking at the forest, and turned back around and fled back to the no-man's land, possibly because the armored B.O.W. was no longer with them.

Alpha Team made it back with the remnants of Echo, only three members of the elite team of seven snipers remained. Mars, Piers, and V were still on alert for hostiles. Once strapped into the plane the leader of Echo started mumbling incoherent words. It was obvious that whatever happened was terrible, and it might be a long road to recovery for most of them, Echo's second in command, Athena, seemed almost unfazed by whatever gripped Echo's commander.

Congratulations went working their way through Alpha, even a few words of _***thanks***_ came from Athena before Echo's leader became loud enough to hear, _"Congratulations? There is nothing but death back there that was a suicide mission. The only __***congratulations***__ should be to the ones who…"_ he trailed off there, Alpha being utterly confused but Athena just looked at him with sympathy.

The helicopters set down back at base after about an hour. Chris and the rest of Alpha team took Echo's leader and his other remaining teammate aside from Athena down to the infirmary to get them taken care of. Athena held back away from the crowd, just watching them progress onwards with her team's leader. Mars, Piers, and V all walked back to their quarters to rest for the night. Once they got back however, Nat was as eager as ever jumping up and down asking about what happened.

"_Did you guys win?"_

Mars and Piers both walked in laughing while V answered Nat, _"Um, yeah, I guess you could say that."_

"_Did you guys kill all the bad people?"_

"_Well, not all of them but yeah we did get a lot of them Nat."_

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. V raised and eyebrow to both Piers and Mars, nobody was expecting anyone at this time, so it was rather strange to be hearing a knock on the door. They momentarily thought it might be Chris, but then he would have just called V's phone, and he was still down at the infirmary with Echo. Mars moved past both Piers and V who were still standing still with confused expressions on their faces and opened the door. To say they were surprised would be an understatement, nobody had been expecting a visit from Athena, Echo's second in command, they had expected her to be down at the infirmary with everyone else.

Athena cleared her throat and rubbed nervously at the back of her head, _"Um, would you guys mind if I came in for a bit to talk about... Quentin (Echo's Leader)?"_

Mars was the first to speak up, ushering her inside, _"Not at all, I'm really sorry about what happened, did you need anything to drink or something Athena?"_

Athena gave Mars a grateful smile, _"Yeah, water sounds like it would be good right about now."_

Mars went into the kitchen to grab some water for Athena. V and Piers sat on the couch across from Athena with Nat in between. Athena took a seat on a simple chair and looked at both Piers and V for a minute before saying anything. Just sitting there, Athena seemed to age thirty years, all the worry and stress from her recent mission seeming to get to her all in an instant. Mars returned and gave Athena the water before sitting across from her; Athena took a drink and cleared her throat before beginning.

"_So, you guys might have heard the… __**odd**__ things Quentin said. Well, he was serious… that… __**thing**__ that came out was what made him go somewhat on the crazy side. We tried to kill it but… as you guys saw it was extremely armored. Before we could even try to run it… got four of us, I didn't watch but I know Quentin did, and I could hear the sounds from behind me… what they were I won't say in front of Nivans' little sister."_

They all took that in for a moment. Nat, thank goodness, had almost no idea what they were talking about. Nobody really talked for a while; they all just sat there in companionable silence. Athena was looking between Piers and V for several minutes before she decided to ask them both a question.

"_So… which one of you was it that shot that thing in the eye?"_

Piers cleared his throat, somewhat nervously, _"That… would be me, Miss."_

Athena eyed Piers for a moment, and then she finally got up and walked over to him and gave him a hug, _"Thank you, it may not be much after what happened today but you have my respect for doing something that our entire team wasn't able to do. Echo would be proud to fight alongside you guys at any time that you need us."_

Mars and V nodded approval. Everyone but Piers and Nat knew that if needed some teams would head out to act as reinforcements for those in the field without even needing the orders to, just out of simple friendship and deeds done on the field that proved sufficient enough to reinforce trust beyond what it already was. After a short while Athena thought it appropriate to leave them be for the night and headed out the door, the group of four giving their farewells as she left.

The group of four stayed in the living room of their quarters and continued to chat for a while. Talking about the day's work and what else might come to happen tomorrow and in the near future. They had all started getting dinner ready when someone heard a knock at the front door. Again, they all eyed each other questioningly because they were not expecting any visitors. This time it was Piers who went to the door to answer it, and this visitor was even more surprising than the last.

"_Hello, Nivans. Would you guys mind if I came in to talk to all of you?"_ It was Chris Redfield at the door, and Piers could not help but wonder what had happened that the leader of Alpha came down here personally.


	6. Chapter 6: Acceptance

Chapter 6: Acceptance

"Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune." ~William James

Piers just stood in the doorway for a moment, utter confusion and surprise engulfing his mind. Chris didn't make a move to come In nor did Piers do anything in response. The both of them stood there in utter silence, eventually Chris started turning a little bit red from the silent stare Piers was giving him. V and Mars both noticed the uncomfortable silence between the two. V rolled his eyes when Mars nodded towards Chris turning red and V moved over to Piers and put a hand on his shoulder. Piers snapped out of it immediately, not realizing how hard he had been staring into Chris' face.

"_S-sorry, I was just uh… really surprised."_ Piers said while turning red, rubbing the back of his head, and putting a sheepish grin onto his face all at the same time.

V chuckled and let Chris into the building. The three of them walked into the living room and took a seat, except for Chris who remained standing. Mars raised an eyebrow when Chris remained stranding but did not say anything. There was an uneasy silence in the room almost like a ticking time bomb. Nat was the one who finally broke the silence; she walked up to Chris and gave him a big hug before she said something that made the whole room burst into laughter.

"_Hi Daddy Redfield! Are you Piers' boss?"_ Nat was completely oblivious to the reason the adults were laughing at her question.

Chris looked at Nat with a silly grin on his face, _"Umm…"_

Chris came to a stop, at a loss for words, while the rest of the room was bursting with laughter and still continuing and almost running out of breath. It took a good minute or so for everyone to calm down, gasping for air like there was no tomorrow and they would never be able to breathe again. Once they were all calmed down Chris looked to each person in turn, giving them each a smile. Once he got to Piers they held each other's' gaze for a moment before he dropped his eyes away. That little glance did not go unknown to Mars and V however. Mars poked V in the shoulder and he knew exactly why she had done it, they both shared another quiet moment of laughter while they continued watching the situation with Chris and Piers.

Chris cleared his throat and continued, _"Okay, well, since you showed exceptional skills and performed extremely well yesterday, I would like to be the first to welcome you fully into the B.S.A.A."_

Everyone sat there in a muted moment of happiness. Piers was the first to make a sound and all he could manage was a muted _*wow.*_ Although, Mars and V themselves had some curious questions for the Captain.

"_Captain, is Jill actually not making him take the testing?"_ Mars had a bit of jealousy in her voice, had she not wanted to join as a medic, she may not have passed the first time she took the recruiting tests.

Chris cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head for a moment that earned a curious look from Mars and V both, then he continued, _"Well not exactly… but trust me, she will take my word for it. Nivans has nothing to worry about."_

Mars sat back, apparently satisfied with the answer Chris had given but V still had a question of his own to ask the Captain, _"So Chris, where is he going to go, he __**is**__ staying in Alpha, right?"_

Piers was curious when he heard that question as well. Piers looked up to Chris with a look of almost longing in his eyes. Chris gave each of them a smile but he was apparently caught off guard at the question. Chris could also say he was surprised, he had expected more of the questions to be coming from Piers himself and not Mars or V.

"_Well… I mean I wouldn't see why he wouldn't. Uh I think I'll check with Jill on that."_

Everyone in the room was skeptical and a little curious. It was true that this was not the typical recruit, but would they really be separated now? Piers had pretty much been an honorary member of alpha since their first meeting, but the uncertainty was still hanging in the air.

Everyone pushed those thoughts away for the moment as Chris asked if they wanted to go out and celebrate. Piers shyly agreed and they agreed on going to a local bar. Alpha, along with Athena, was going to be there as well to celebrate Piers' acceptance into the B.S.A.A.

Everyone grabbed their things, mostly just some jackets because it was getting cold as well as late, and they headed on out the door. All five people piled into a truck Chris had borrowed for the night and were on their way over to the bar. Mars, V, and Nat all sat in the back of the truck while Piers and Chris were in the front.

Every once in a while Chris would sneak a glance at Piers. Several times Piers caught him looking and smiled, Chris would just turn his eyes back to the road while turning slightly red at being caught. Mars and V were busy entertaining Nat and they missed when Piers clasped his left hand over Chris' right, as he was using his left to drive. Chris turned slightly to raise an eyebrow at Piers who just smiled and mouthed the words _*thank you*_ before turning his attention back to the road in front of him.

Chris' head was still swimming with thoughts after Piers had touched his hand. The young man was hard for Chris to read, so he had no idea what to think. They continued on down the road and Chris was still trapped within his own thoughts when Piers grabbed the wheel and swerved the vehicle back to the left, because they were about to go flying off the road from Chris' lack of attention. The chatter in the back of the vehicle stopped for a moment, Chris turned red feeling three new pairs of eyes on them. Piers must have felt it too because he quickly pulled his hand away, clearing his throat and muttering _*eyes on the road, Sir.*_

Chris smiled at the prospect of being called _*Sir*_ by Piers but was determined to keep his mind on the road so they did not have another situation repeat itself.

Mars and V looked between each other in the back of the vehicle, the sudden maneuver had surprised them a little bit but not too much, Chris was not really known for his driving skills to be very _good_ in any sense of the word. They both saw for the first time th exchange going on in between Piers and Chris. Mars smiled at V and gave him a thumbs up, motioning to Chris and Piers. Nat looked at them both questioningly and they both only just put a finger to their mouths, indicating for her to stay quiet.

~Meanwhile

Athena had excused herself from the table a few minutes ago. She was having a fun time with Alpha, definitely more than what had happened lately. She suddenly had a ring going off on her phone and when she looked it was Jill's number. She let it ring out and while she excused herself she hastily sent a message back, _*finding a quiet spot.*_

It took Athena a couple minutes to find a quiet place in the bar before she could call Jill back. When she looked back down at her phone she had a missed message from about thirsty seconds ago, _*Hurry, important.*_ Athena flipped her phone open to find out what was going on with Jill.

Jill hurriedly answered her phone after a single ring not even giving Athena time to respond. Jill was almost stumbling over her words in a rush to deliver news and ask Athena questions of her own all at the exact same time. Athena almost had to yell at Jill to get her to slow down and take a breath.

Jill took a deep, several second long breath before she started talking again, _"Sorry, there is just a __**lot**__ to say in such a short amount of time, although I have to ask some stuff as well, If you don't mind?"_

Athena was relieved that Jill had final slowed down, _"Yeah, whatever you need ma'am."_

Jill chuckled a little bit to herself, _"No need to be formal, this is just a friendly chat."_

Athena scowled, Jill rarely had a _*friendly chat* _that did not end up with some kind of order, _"That's funny, because to me this doesn't seem like it will end up very friendly."_

Jill bit her lip, she had forgotten how easy she was to read, _"Well… as long as Chris isn't there this should stay relatively friendly don't you think?"_

Athena signed, _"What do you want, Jill?"_

Jill took in a deep breath before she delivered the news, _"Echo leader is out of commission for the time being. We have no clue how much of a toll that mission took on him physically and mentally. As of right now you are the acting leader of Echo until further notice."_

Athena stared off into space. Sure, she hadn't _seen_ what happened but that didn't mean it was any less horrible. She knew Quentin had seen what happened but she wondered, how much _had_ it affected him? Taken off duty along with the other member of Echo still left besides Athena herself, and now she was the leader of Echo. She was the only person now active of a former team of seven, how did Jill expect to fix this for her?

Jill quietly whispered into the phone, _"Are you ok? I still have questions I need to ask you."_

Athena took a deep breath and exhaled, _"Yeah, I'm fine."_

Jill calmly started talking into her phone, trying to mask her feelings, _"So, that new guy Alpha saved from the city, what do you think of him? I was informed that he performed quite well in the field earlier."_

Athena's tone became very cold and guarded, _"What are you saying, Jill?"_

Jill thought a moment before finally answering her, _"I know you might not want this but since I can already tell this will no longer be friendly, I'm making it an order. Piers Nivans will be joining you as part of a Special Ops squad. Good bye Athena."_

Jill hung up before Athena could even respond. Athena punched a nearby wall trying to vent some of her growing amount of anger. Athena hated Jill sometimes, she just lost almost her entire squad and she did _**not**_ want to have to worry about a new soldier risking his life on these stupid missions. Athena began thinking of a way to bring this up to Chris.

~Meanwhile in the truck

Meanwhile, everyone had been silent in the truck for almost two minutes now. Chris tried to ease the silence by flipping through some radio stations. Chris didn't pay much attention to what was playing, but after a dozen or more stations Chris found one that he saw both Nat and Piers really perk up to. Not even thinking, Chris sneaked a quick glace at Piers. Piers had his eyes closed with a smile on his face, quietly drumming his fingers along with the beat of the music.

It took them about five minutes longer to reach the bar. Everyone hopped out and the first thing Piers looked at was the sign for the place. It had a blackened out silhouette of a wolf howling at a waning moon, and the bar's name was _*El Lobo Loco*_ (The Crazy Wolf).

The group began to wander inside to find the rest of the group they had waiting on them. Piers was at Chris' side while Mars had Nat on her shoulders walking next to V. It took them a few minutes to find the rest of Alpha sitting in a secluded corner of the bar, beers already on the table. It looked like that as they were waiting they had starting a bit of a drinking contest to see who could drink the most. The five of them sat down at the table and started order some drinks and food. The four other adults ordered beers while Piers quickly ordered two glasses of water and a milkshake for Nat before she even tried to ask what everyone else was drinking, and hoped the water would keep himself from getting drunk because he knew Nat would not need two of them.

The party at the table went on for a while before Athena made an appearance. They had already gone through two drinking contests and Andy came out champion both times, although now he was getting noticeable drunk. Piers just sat there drinking some water, hoping nobody asked why he wasn't having a beer because honestly, he didn't want to become so intoxicated he might end up doing something he regretted. After about another thirty minutes of drinking Athena made an appearance while some of Alpha was stumbling off drunk to the dance floor. Piers went along but just hung out on the dance floor in a more secluded area where there was nobody at. Athena, Mars, V, Nat, and Chris all remained at the table, having the decency to not get rip roaring drunk at a celebration and make fools of themselves.

Chris had been eying Athena since she had gotten to the table. She kept looking between Piers and Chris, and Chris was starting to sense that something was off in the sniper. He waited while the rest of Alpha stumbled off drunk and decided it was a good time to start asking questions. He sat down and looked at her in the eyes, never backing his gaze down. Athena held his gaze and what Chris saw explained a lot, he saw so many emotions he almost forgot what he was about to ask her. Apprehension, sadness, confusion, anger, regret, and so many more emotions seemed to be swirling in Athena's eyes like a whirlwind Chris was almost afraid to actually ask her something for fear she might blow up and start bashing someone's head in just to vent some anger. His curiosity got the better of him however, and he decided to finally ask what was up with Athena.

Chris cleared his throat, obviously still nervous from how angry Athena seemed to be, _"So Athena, is there something wrong we should know about?"_

For a split second Athena actually lowered her gaze before masking her emotions with one of the best poker faces Chris had ever seen, _"I just uh… got some news from Jill, and it wasn't very welcoming news at any point."_

Chris was now curious as to what Jill had told Athena, _"What did she say?"_

Athena sighed before wanting to answer Chris, and Mars and V were now interested as well, leaning in so that they could hear what was going on. _"Echo leader and the other remaining sniper are now out of commission until further notice. I am the acting leader of Echo squad until Quentin is either able enough to lead again, or they find a replacement for me. There were also… other things… things considering more __**personnel**__ for my team."_

Chris for some reason had a foreboding sense of dread but his curiosity was too strong and continued asking Athena his next question, _"So, how are you getting new personnel then, Athena?"_

Athena bit her lip for a moment, nervous of wanting to deliver the news but continued doing so anyway, _"Well… Jill said we were having a *friendly chat* at first and then I realized what she was trying to get me to do. I may have pissed her off a little bit and then she turned it into an order. Piers Nivans is to be moved under my command as part of a Special Ops unit, I'm sorry Captain Redfield."_

Everyone sat there in stunned silence, all except for Nat who kept trying to talk to everyone because she had no idea what was going on. Chris' mouth was hanging open in an awkward way, like he was halfway between wanting to yell and ask something but no sound was coming out of his mouth. Mars and V sat there just digesting the information; the new recruit they had been taking care of would not be part of their unit after all. After a few minutes of silence they all turned and looked at Piers who was hanging out on the edges of the dance floor where nobody else was at, just watching.

Chris sighed when he went to stand up,_ "Well, I guess I should go let him know the news, I'll be right back guys."_


	7. Chapter 7: Forgotten Chance

Chapter 7: Forgotten Chance

"Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late someday." ~Franz Liszt

Chris slowly got up from the table and made his way over to Piers. This was something he was hoping he would never have to do; he enjoyed having the young survivor as part of his team, hell it had even paid off greatly on their most recent mission. However, Chris inwardly felt _extremely_ guilty because he didn't even try to argue with Jill to try and keep Piers on the team. _Jill_, it wasn't even a matter for him or Piers, and she even went behind Chris' back to make the order clear by giving it to Athena instead of him.

Chris was approaching Piers as slow as he possibly could, hoping that at some miniscule second he would get a call from Jill calling the whole thing off, it was a small and false hope, but it was an inward hope nonetheless. Chris was also starting to just try and observe Piers as he approached the unknowing soldier. He was leaning against a wall in a secluded corner of the dance floor just seeming to watch everyone, not watching to partake in anything himself. Chris watched the younger man's eyes dart from person to person, couple to couple, seeming absorbed and lost in some kind of thought that he hadn't had in years.

Chris was only a few feet away from Piers now, and the man still seemed to have no idea that Chris was coming towards him, he was turned away from Chris though, so that was understandable because Chris could barely hear himself think of just _how_ in the world he was going to break the news to Piers. Chris sighed, walking up behind Piers and just settling on setting his hand on the man's shoulder as gently as he could. Piers didn't seem to notice at first so Chris shook his shoulder a little bit. Piers almost jumped out of his skin, he turned around slowly like he thought there would be a gun to the back of his head and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Chris. Piers' face also turned a few dark shades of red, clashing with the changing lights on the dance floor, making him seem like a multi colored person with a red coating on their skin.

Piers cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the nervousness in his system. _Chris_ had come up to him on the dance floor, put his hand on his shoulder and even shook it. Piers had to try and quell the rush of emotions that started whirling through his head. What did this mean, did Chris want to say something, did he want to _dance_ with Piers? No, that was one of the least likely thoughts swirling through his head right now. Sure, Chris had been really nice when he had seen him, but that didn't mean Chris actually _had_ any _feeling_ for Piers, did it?

Chris was starting to become a little nervous at the awkward silence and he cleared his throat before speaking, _"So um, I just got some news about you… from Athena…"_

Piers raised an eyebrow quizzically at Chris, _"R-really? Did I do something wrong?"_

Chris rubbed at the back of his head; this conversation was going to be harder than he thought it would be, _"No, well, not exactly anyway… um, I'm not really sure how to break this to you, Piers…"_

Piers gave Chris a smile that warmed his heart and for some reason almost had him wanting to melt to the floor, _"It's ok, Captain. Just tell me what the news is. I will be fine."_

Chris sighed, _"Jill wants you… rather __**orders**__ you to be transferred over to Athena's command to serve as a two person special ops unit… for the time being you are no longer part of Alpha Team…"_

Piers took the news in silence from Chris. He frowned at first, and then had a quizzical look on his face like he was trying to think where this all might end up some day. Piers looked at the table they had been sitting at earlier; nobody was really paying them too much attention. Athena had a downcast look on her face even though she was staring at the table. Mars and V were trying to keep up a light conversation but every time they tried something they would look at Athena and then to Nat, and they would just sigh and give up. Piers turned his attention back to the man who had just delivered this news to him.

Locking his gaze with Chris, Piers started to voice a couple of his concerns, _"So um… my sister… would you guys be able to, you know, take care of her for me?"_

Chris didn't even have to hesitate to answer the question, _"Of course we can, I will personally put Mars and V in charge of that you have nothing to worry about there."_

Piers nodded in approval, _"Thank you, Captain. So just one last thing I guess um… I've been wanting to tell you something since I first met you and seeing as how I have to move I might not get the chance again…" _by this time Piers had started blushing even redder but Chris didn't seem to notice or just really didn't care he couldn't tell which.

Chris leaned one arm on the wall looking at Piers, _"What would that be, Piers?"_

Chris got his answer a mere moment later. Piers walked up and looked him in the eye, never flinching or backing down from Chris' curious but yet cold gaze. Chris just kept watching him, expecting him to say something. What Chris _didn't_ expect was for Piers to move even _closer_ than what he already had. Not even three seconds after Piers moved in Chris had a pair of lips pressed up to his own, sucking on his bottom lip lightly. Chris' eyes went wide in surprise. He didn't back off, nor did he try to go any further. When Piers pulled back with a halfhearted smile Chris just stood there with his mouth slightly hanging open.

Piers was smiling so devilishly that Chris couldn't help but want to gawk at him, _"That would be it Captain. Like they say, take your chances because one day it might be too late. Well, um, I guess I'll go meet up with Athena now… I'll see you around Captain Redfield."_

Piers walked away before Chris could see the nervousness and red start rushing back to his face. Chris stood there following him with his eyes, Piers walked back to the table but Chris could not discern if anyone else had actually just seen what happened. Chris watched as Piers walked up to Athena, she seemed to be angrily yelling into her phone again, Chris almost hoped it was at Jill. Chris watched as Piers waited for her to finish and when she looked at him he only said a few words and the two were off. Chris still just stood there watching, letting his only chance slip away.

After a few minutes Chris decided to walk back over to their table to sit down and try and chat with everyone else. When he sat down Mars and V eyed him curiously. Nat was sitting there tugging on Mars' sleeve, asking where Piers went. Mars couldn't come up with a real answer and just told Nat that he was going off to work. It was an awkward and uneasy silence; nobody said anything but everyone just kept looking from one person to the next. A couple people from Alpha that were on the dance floor started stumbling back, drunk off their asses. At one point one of them asked what happened to Piers, nobody answered him though except Nat who said *He went to work!* and when they heard that the soldiers would have a momentary lapse in their drunken stupors.

~Meanwhile

Athena had gotten another call from Jill while Chris went to go talk to Piers. She could hear Jill just fine but wanted to just yell at her for what she was doing. She just lost her entire team and Jill wants her to bring the _new_ guy along with her on a mission? She lost four people, six if you count the two that are out of action but alive, and Jill _still_ wants her to have someone that looks like they aren't even twenty-seven yet along with her on a freaking mission? Knowing Jill this mission was probably just as bad as the last one if not worse, and she was _only_ asking Athena to do it with a third of the manpower, no big deal right?

Athena saw Piers approach her from the dance floor but was too busy arguing with Jill to say anything to him at the moment. She inwardly thanked Piers for being so patient, he just stood their silently while she continued yelling into the phone. *Yeah really good leader* she thought to herself as she finished with Jill and hung up the phone, first five seconds of the new guy knowing she was his boss and she was already yelling at someone pissed off beyond comprehension. Athena sighed and motioned for Piers to follow her and they stepped out of the bar.

She said only one simple thing to him with a sigh, _"I'm sorry."_

Piers was almost taken aback by this, not understand what she could be sorry for,_ "W-what do you mean, *I'm sorry.* what do you have to be sorry about?"_

Athena just looked at Piers for a second before averting her gaze, but after a moment she looked back at him, _"For __**this**__, having to run these missions with me, having to go on these fool's errands. Make no mistake, these are dangerous and stupidly insane even with a dozen squads to take these on and __**Jill**__ expects me to get it done with one man under my lead, is she fucking nuts?"_

Piers was taken aback for a moment, not sure how to respond before he finally found the words to do so, _"Crazy or not I owe you guys a lot, and I am willing to repay it by helping you if need be."_

Athena scoffed, _"Good morals, poor idea. Nivans you are going to go with me on these missions __**only**__ because Jill orders it, but you follow my lead. If I tell you to retreat you __**retreat**__, is that understood?"_

Piers saluted her, _"Yes Ma'am."_

Athena sighed; she half hoped she would be able to get him to go away, _"Good then. We start our first mission tomorrow morning, go get some rest and report here at 0630 geared and ready to go."_

Athena and Piers were now standing at the entrance to the B.S.A.A. base. Piers saluted her one more time before wandering off to go find some sleep. Piers headed back to Mars' and V's place and settled in on the couch. Piers slowly drifted off into a comfortable sleep that night on the couch, wondering what would be in store for him tomorrow.

Piers woke up at about 0400 hours. When he did so he heard two other people snoring lightly nearby. He looked around and he saw Mars and V sitting in two of the other chairs, facing him in their sleep. Piers was just a little bit curious, he isn't usually a heavy sleeper so he thought he would have been awakened had anyone else come into the house during the night.

Piers got up and started getting ready for the day. He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stripped and got in, letting the hot water run over his body as he mulled over the events from the last week in his head.

First, he had been living a nice, peaceful life in his hometown. Just graduated high school and working a part time job. He had taken to the shooting range as a hobby on the weekends until he found out what he was going to do. The first time he had gone with someone else and used anything other than a handgun had been just last week, two days before the J'avo invaded the town.

He had a friend in the military that was in town recruiting and Piers had mentioned he hadn't found what to do yet. His friend had convinced him to let him watch his shooting. He obliged, and his friend was absolutely amazed at his skill with a handgun and gave him a rifle, becoming even more impressed at the way Piers took to it considering he had never used one in his life. Eventually, his friend got Piers to accept an invitation to join a squad of snipers, but then the city was invaded.

The few members of the military who were there and the police force within the city, tried to meet the J'avo head on. That was a fatal mistake, everyone died and the city was thrown into chaos, everyone fleeing for their lives and more often than naught wound up dead on the street.

Piers was one of the luckiest ones, for almost three days he hid from the J'avo until one got smart enough to use food as a trap. Then however, everything change, _**they**_ came into the city. V had been the first to find him and even managed to save his sister. As grueling as that had all been for him, one of the few good things he could say he got out of all of it was meeting Chris Redfield. To say he had been taken aback by Chris would be an understatement.

Sure, Piers was thankful to V but he was even more so to Chris. At first Piers thought his feelings for Chris was just because they had saved him. All that seemed to change in the blink of an eye when they started to have little moments that would make Piers' heart flutter with joy and love; moments like when they seemed to share smiles that nobody else did, or in the car during the ride to the bar.

Then the _dance floor_ happened. Piers was hoping Chris would do something back, even saying no was better than nothing at all. Instead, Chris just stood there. Piers wondered if he had scared Chris so he had been a little too eager to walk away and go talk to Athena.

Piers finished showering and stepped out to get dressed. He went down to the armory and got geared up. He grabbed a pistol, combat knife, machine pistol, and a rifle. He headed back towards V's and Mars' house to relax before his mission. Once he got back he was surprised to see that V and Mars were no longer in the front room, however he heard no noises and didn't want to go trampling through the house trying to find out where they were. Instead, Piers just sat down a chair and relaxed, letting his thoughts wander.

His thoughts were interrupted when V walked into the front room, raising an eyebrow at him in a questioning gesture. Piers just smiled back and nodded groggily, he really hadn't been up this early after a night's sleep in quite some time. However, when he looked at the clock it was 0600 hours and Piers would need to get going soon.

Piers got up and nodded to V, shaking his hand and thanking him for watching after his sister. After a groggy *you're welcome* Piers headed on out the door. He met Athena at the gate to the base and she explained what would be going on for the day.

Watching him as he approached Athena figured she would give him one last chance to back out, _"Nivans, this is your last chance. Back out now and nobody will hold it against you, Jill shouldn't even be doing this in the first place."_

Piers' tone was defiant in response to her, _"I'm going to go with you and that is that, I'm not backing out, not after everything you guys have done to help me. What are we doing today, Ma'am?"_

Athena sighed, she _really_ did not want to have the burden on her shoulders that Quentin currently has, _"Well, I was informed that we are to head out of the front of the gates here and find out what is going on down the road. There is a town several miles out and there has been some suspicious activity going on there and Jill thought it best that a small group go in to find out what is going on. Unfortunately, that is why she stuck you with me, really though, if you want to back out do it now, I would prefer that I do this alone than you risking your life."_

Piers glared daggers at her, _"One more time and I'm going to start heading out on my own, Ma'am."_

Athena sighed in defeat. Piers was definitely someone that should be leading stupid missions like these rather than her. Piers and her were currently waiting for mission time to begin, they were to be gone for no more than a day, if they weren't back by sundown then they would be presumed KIA or MIA, which one they would be considered however, was a mystery.

~0629 hours

One minute until mission time. Piers checked his weapons again to make sure they were loaded and ready to go. He saw that Athena had out a pistol and combat knife and figured he should start out the same. Watching his watch so that he could synchronize it with Athena, he took a glance to the side and saw Chris. Chris was standing there staring at them wide-eyed, he started forward but then Piers and Athena synced their watches. Piers took one last look at Chris and smiled at him, Chris froze again and Piers was on out the gates with Athena in the lead.


	8. Chapter 8: Shadow from the Past

Chapter 8: Shadow from the Past

"As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can." ~Julius Caesar

Chris watched as Piers turned around one last time giving him a smile before heading out of the gate with Athena. Chris' mind was still reeling in confusion from last night. Piers had walked away from him in the bar and he didn't even say anything to him. Chris mentally chided himself for being so stupid, Piers had kissed him and he just stood there, and now maybe he had just lost the only chance he would ever get to say anything to the younger man.

V walked up behind Chris slowly, coming to a rest next to Chris while kicking up a small amount of dust from the dried and cracked ground beneath their boots. Chris and V both stood there and watched as the duo of snipers began their long journey down the road, unsure if they may ever come back to be among the living ever again. A cold icy grip of fear took hold of Chris, scared for the younger man and wondering if anything would go wrong on this mission. V put a hand on Chris' shoulder, and it took a moment before Chris finally relented his gaze on Piers' back and looked over towards V. V was taken by surprise for a moment, he had never before seen Chris look so… unsure, confused, even scared of what might happen to the people walking out of the gate. Chris gave off an exasperated sigh, and V couldn't help but wonder how much bigger the burden on his shoulders just got.

"_D-do you think… do you think they will make it back, V?"_ Chris had turned his vision back toward the fading silhouettes of Piers and Athena that were now the barest spots of black against the light of the morning sun.

V took a moment before responding to the Captain, _"I… don't know Sir. But I will bet my money that they will make it out alive no matter what happens. That kid is more resourceful than you think and it takes a lot to break Athena."_

Chris sighed again, _"I hope you are right."_ They could now barely see anything of the duo at all, but they could hear the barest noise of someone shouting as they started to speed off down the road, being completely gone from their vision within a matter of seconds.

~~~~~~~ Piers/Athena

Piers had taken one last look at Chris before their watches were synced and they began on down the road. The road itself was very well done with it leading out of a base like the ones the B.S.A.A. had, although it was covered in a good amount of dust and dirt. However, where Piers and Athena were going, everything was going to be much older and outdated, almost looking like the Stone Age compared to the B.S.A.A. base. That was the thing about the viruses, it seemed like prolonged exposure in any one area would cause everything to decay. Wildlife would die or become mutated in some way, and vegetation along with plant life would start to wither and die.

The sun was just coming up now, bathing parts of the road in a glow of morning sunlight. The sky itself was almost frightening; it looked awash in a blood red color. Piers was not a very superstitious person but he had often looked to see meanings in things others were afraid to face or even think of. He was still thinking about that nightmare from time to time, they may not always be completely accurate in how they would eventually play out, but they have always been true on big events.

The morning sun and the sky however, were a different story. One of the most obvious possible meanings to Piers was that there was about to be some kind of beginning, just assuming that it was a beginning of work with Athena. The sky itself however, was unsettling to Piers to say the least. The sky had that same color the day the city was attacked. He remembered watching the police and military try to fight; the sky a terrible imitation of what was happening.

Piers could still remember the cackling sounds of those J'avo. They slaughtered the military and police, mauling them as they laid dying in pools of their own blood. They sky had been blood red that day, and that it was the same color now scared Piers even more than seeing his sister almost dead in front of him.

Piers shook those thoughts from his head as they continued onward. A light breeze rustled the plant life on either side of the road, still covered in a coating of early morning dew. The road was also a little darker from the moisture, but none of that helped much with the echoing sound of their boots going off for who knows how far in the silent morning. Piers spared a quick glance behind them; Chris and V were standing there. V had a hand on Chris' shoulder, they were talking to each other but Piers was too far away to be able to tell what they were saying.

Piers turned his attention back to the road, boots now starting to kick up the dried red dust surrounding them on all sides. A few moments passed before they heard faint gunshots in the distance. Athena and Piers both took off together, speeding down the road towards the sounds. Piers knew something was going to happen today, so he pressed two fingers to the comms device in his ear, hoping to get in a last few words.

A moment of crackling over the radio, Piers was trying to reach Chris over a more secluded channel. The noises were getting louder as well; soon Piers would not be able to talk over the sounds. Piers mused to himself that they would be easy to find if they needed backup. They were leaving a combination of inch deep boot impressions and a gigantic dust storm behind them. Anybody that had not seen the two soldiers might have thought some kind of tornado was on the road.

Chris finally answered after a moment, _"…Piers? What's going on, do you guys need backup?"_ Piers felt a little hopeful at the protective tone Chris had in his voice.

Piers kept his eyes and ears ahead as he spoke, he could now hear the distinct voices of at least two people. _"No, Captain Redfield. I just wanted to say sorry about last night, and that we will see you when our mission is done."_

Chris waited a moment before answering, mulling over his words in his head, _"Piers… uh… I'm still not sure what to say about that. Just don't die or I will drag you back from whatever hell you went to and kick your ass myself."_

Piers smiled to himself, taking the comm away from the channel that Chris was still on. Piers may not have known it then, but Chris wired his comms so he would be able to listen to the entire mission as it played out. The voices and gunshots from down the road were now getting much louder. The fight came into sight and Athena and Piers could see three people fleeing from a group of J'avo. They were all in tattered clothing and trying to run backwards while shooting at the J'avo.

Athena gestured to Piers who brought out his rifle and started to take his aim. The man in the lead of the group turned and saw the two soldiers. He faltered for a second before urging the other two on with him. There we six J'avo in all chasing a group of three people barely armed with more than handguns.

Athena rushed past them as she pulled out her own combat knife and pistol. Piers was as quick and as careful as possible, taking out one J'avo as the small group of people was just reaching him. The J'avo slowly fell to the ground lifeless, blood and brain matter mingling with the dusty road creating a maroon red colored muck. Athena was nearing the group of J'avo now at an amazing pace, while they still numbered five. Piers quickly got another bullet into the chamber letting it fly as quickly as he possibly could. Piers took another J'avo to the ground writhing in pain screaming and yelling as it began to change slowly. Piers cursed himself for not making a better shot.

The J'avo, now down to four, seemed to just be wildly shooting at Athena, hoping they would hit their mark. Athena dashed off into the forest on the side of the road, using the trees and shrubs for cover from the gunfire. Athena was maybe twenty or thirty feet from the closest J'avo and was becoming harder to find among the trees. Piers managed a glance back to the group of people and two of them were about thirty feet behind him, collapsed on the ground from exhaustion while gasping for breath. The third member of this group, the one who had been the first to look forward and see them, was only a couple feet behind Piers.

"_Eyes on the fight,"_ he gasped out.

Piers turned back to look at the J'avo, loading another bullet into the chamber of his rifle. Athena was firing at them from behind the trees, hitting them every time but the J'avo simply shook her bullets off, and their bodies regenerating themselves. Before Piers could even fire his next shot the man behind him was on his left, shooting at the J'avo as well.

Piers let his third shot go, the sound echoing louder among the decreasing sounds of gunfire from the J'avo. A third J'avo fell to the ground, this one slowly crumbling into ashes being swept away by the breeze. The shots from the soldier and civilian were slowing the J'avo down but were not doing any extreme damage.

Piers loaded a fourth shot into the chamber, this time aiming for a J'avo that turned in his direction. The civilian next to Piers noticed this as well and fired several shots, one connecting with an eye on the J'avo and made him stumble. Piers let his shot fly and that J'avo also crumbled into ashes, leaving them with only three remaining. The J'avo writhing on the floor was now starting to get back up.

The last remaining J'avo that were still standing were still focused on Athena. Piers and the civilian began approaching the J'avo, making it easier to connect their shots. The civilian cursed, the next shot he took was the last one he had left in his gun. Piers tossed him two magazines of ammo and the civilian quickly reloaded, taking fire at the J'avo once again. The civilian managed to nail one of the remaining J'avo in the head with several shots, splattering dark red blood, brain, and skull fragments on the one closest to it. The last J'avo standing turned towards them, growling from deep in its throat.

Athena was now making her way out of the woods, going for the J'avo that was now getting up from the ground. The J'avo had a newly mutated arm, using it as a shield to stop bullets and anything else coming from the front. Athena was working her way around it while Piers and their civilian "friend" kept up a dangerous dance with the last J'avo gunner.

The J'avo was spraying wildly; the two had to duck constantly to avoid being shot by it. Finally, Piers just planted his body to the ground and fired, the J'avo stumbled back in its death throes, trigger still pulled. The last few of the bullets in the J'avo's gun going into the back of the mutated J'avo that was still alive.

Athena took that as her opening; she ran up to the mutated J'avo and used its own arm to vault over its head. She landed just behind the now dazed J'avo. Athena clutched her knife as tightly as she could and sent it driving through the J'avo's brain. The J'avo stopped in its tracks, falling forward and crumbling to ashes before it ever hit the ground.

Athena took a moment to catch her breath, then turned and walked towards Piers and the civilian. The first thing Athena did was eye their new "friends" the one standing next to Piers was only a couple inches shorter than he was, and also seeming to be very sure of himself when he held a gun in his hand.

Athena approached a little cautiously, _"So, who are you three and what is going on here?"_

The man cleared his throat, _"I'm Dave, and the two back there are Leo and Carl. We got ambushed by the J'avo and we managed to snag a couple weapons and ran as fast as we could."_

Athena took a moment to think that over, while Piers gave some water to the other two still collapsed on the ground. Dave he called himself, turned around, smiling at how hungrily Leo and Carl were drinking the water. Piers walked over to Dave and offered him some water, but he just simply smiled and accepted it, not immediately drinking anything.

Athena looked back to Dave when he turned back to face her. She had been given no information that civilians were in the area. Still, something had to be said if three civilians managed to steal some guns from J'avo and have the guts and skills to make it out alive. The gears in Athena's head were still turning as she began to speak to Dave, who just happened to still be standing next to Piers.

"_Not many civilians have the kind of skills it takes to outdo J'avo, are you guys from the military or something?"_

Dave perked up even more at that question than he had once he had seen some friendly faces, _"Yeah, well, at least I am anyway. Carl and Leo there are a couple of friends I have known since my childhood days and I found them before getting out of an overrun city down the road."_

Athena looked even grimmer at that news if that was even at all possible. Piers raised a quizzical eyebrow but Athena gestured that she would tell him later. Piers nodded back in affirmation and he could still see the gears turning in her head as she continued to ponder something.

Athena took one more look at the ragtag group and gestured back the way she and Piers had come from, _"Head down the road there. It should take you a couple miles and you will find a B.S.A.A. base, tell them that Athena and Piers sent you."_

Dave nodded to Athena and walked to his friends, delivering the news. Before leaving the other two came up to Piers and Athena, shaking hands with both of them and offering words of encouragement. Piers and Athena watched them walk on, kicking up small storms of dried red dust behind them. Athena gestured for Piers to call Chris over the comms.

A few seconds of crackling over the comms before a gruff and concerned voice answered, _"Hello? Piers, is something wrong?"_

Piers smiled to himself, _"No Captain Redfield, everything is fine. There are three civilians on the way to the base. Their names are Dave, Leo, and Carl. Dave is armed with a handgun as well as the other two and he has a military background."_

Chris scrunched his weathered and slightly gray brows for a moment, _"Alright Piers. We will make sure they get whatever they need, you guys be careful out there."_

Piers smile grew even wider, _"Sure thing Captain Redfield."_

~~~~ 2 Hours later

Chris and V had been waiting at the gates, looking for the three people Piers had called in about. It had been two hours now and still there was no sign of them. Chris and V were about to turn in for the night when they heard some distant cheering down the road. Chris held a hand outstretched in front of his head, trying to block out some of the sun beating down on his face. Chris spotted three silhouettes down the road, each one at differing intervals. They were going between running and trying to walk.

It took about five more minutes before the silhouetted figures got to the gates. They were just as Piers had told him, three people, armed with handguns. Chris called for Mars and she came along with two other members of the Del Mar team. They led them away to get situated. V and Chris stood at the gate for a few more minutes wondering if anything else might be coming.

Suddenly, V grunted and fell down on one knee, keeping himself up with the other one. He put a hand to his arm and moved up his sleeve. As Chris watched he saw blood coming down his arm from some unknown wound. Chris kneeled down to offer some help but V put up a hand to stop him, motioning for him to check his comms.

What Chris heard chilled him to the very bone. An ear splitting cackle and its accompanying words making its way through the comms.

"_**Now you will die, you could never hide from me forever."**_


	9. Chapter 9: Paying the Debt

Chapter 9: Paying the Debt

"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Chris listened as the screeching voice through the comms chilled his very bones and seemed to turn his very blood to ice. The sound was inhuman, scratchy, and raw as if it had not been used or spoken the human tongue in quite a long time. V was still kneeling on the ground. Chris managed a glance down to him and it did not seem that he was actually wounded at all, even though there was blood on him. Some blood ran off the bottom of V's arm, trying to form a small pool in the dirt covered ground but just dried up before the pool became big enough. The dried up blood and dirt soon seemed to resemble clay.

V's words came out in a few ragged shuddering breaths, _"W-what are they saying… Captain…"_

Chris checked the comms again; these words even more disturbing than the last ones he had heard come through. The words were said by the same strange voice, but this time they seemed to be coming through more clearly, as if it was getting used to speaking the human tongue. These words however, were strange but darker and more foreboding than the first words that were said.

"**The debt must be paid little ones! I smell the mark on you! Where is he?! WHERE?!"**

Chris wasn't sure why those words seemed to make his hair stand on edge but they did. Chris looked back down to V who was frozen in place; the voice through the comms must have been loud enough for him to hear every single thing that was said. His face had paled and he looked shocked. Without warning, V put his fingers to his comms for Mars, practically screaming for her.

"_Mars, to the gates, we have to go __**NOW!**__"_

~~~~~~~~~Piers/Athena

After sending the three stragglers on their way, Athena and Piers trudged onward once again to their mission objective. The sun was high in the sky and beating down on them, making them sweat in their gear. They continued along a dusty road toward their designated mission area, hoping that everything would be easier from here on out. They were sent to try and identify possible "super" B.O.W.s, that is, ones mutated even further than the others. One might just called them "rare" B.O.W.s, because you might see them as one in a million or even lower chances of it.

Piers remembered back to the creature they had stopped from completely destroying Echo team. That thing was extremely armored, with extremely few weak spots in its hide that were almost impossible to hit even for an experienced sniper. Piers hoped the eye he shot out would stay destroyed. He didn't linger on that hope for too long however, not after the healing abilities these J'avo had displayed after being shot everywhere on their body and even had half of their heads blown off.

They walked on in silence for the rest of their journey to the mission site. Piers was left to dwell on his own thoughts for as long as it would take them to get there. What Piers did think on was Chris and Natalia, his sister. He had feelings for Chris and began to wonder if Chris himself was trying to reciprocate them in his own strange way. He also wondered how his sister was doing. She must have been doing fine with V and Mars, but was she wondering about him, or was she just hoping that he would be there soon?

They were soon nearing the city, maybe a mile or two out and the sun was starting to dip in the sky, turning it darker and darker. That was a relief because the temperature dropped as well and Piers and Athena weren't sweating like they were in a sauna anymore. Once they got closer to the city, Athena motioned for Piers to split off from the road as she did the same. They both kicked up dust splintering off to the left and right. Piers took a few minutes searching around in the woods before he found an acceptable spot for him to setup his rifle so he could scope everything out. Piers took his Rifle out and set it on top of a chopped down tree, the top of the remaining trunk being exceptionally smooth. Piers turned on his night vision scope, the darkness of the sinking sun almost blackened out the city ahead of them.

Piers was looking through the scope of his rifle and noted the terrain of the land. It seemed almost eerily familiar. There was a vast expanse of vegetation before him before it tapered off into a dry and barren wasteland. Piers spotted a large amount of J'avo and other infected milling about. Piers then spotted a large armored creature among them and his heart almost stopped dead in its tracks. That was a bad mistake; Piers heard a rustling noise behind him and figured it was Athena. The next thing he knew he heard Athena yell his name off in the distance. He heard a gunshot and felt something warm soaking his left sleeve. Then something collided with his head and everything went black.

~~~~Mars

Mars had gotten a message from V that three people had shown up and needed to be taken care of and settled in. She grabbed Elise and Dan from the Del Mar team and they hurried out to the gates of the base. When they got there they were introduced to Dave, Carl, and Leo. They led the three of them away to the medical barracks to be checked out. Elise got Carl, Dan got Leo, and Mars walked on with Dave. Once they got to the medical barracks they got the three newcomers food, water, and new clothing which they were extremely relieved to have.

Everyone was feeling new and refreshed. The group of three was smiling and talking even more than they were before, which was a major relief. Mars couldn't imagine what kind of hell on earth they had to deal with before getting here. Mars was talking with Dave about his time in the military when her comms crackled to life with V almost screaming into it.

Mars bid Dave farewell, apologizing for having to rush out so quickly. Mars grabbed her gear as quickly as she could and headed on out the door. Before she made it out completely, Dave grabbed her by the arm to stop her. She looked at him confused before he said two words.

"_Be careful."_ Mars nodded and Dave let her go, watching her rush off.

~~Athena/Piers

Athena had split up with Piers about a mile outside of their target city. She went off to the west side of the woods and Piers to the eastern side. She wasn't sure exactly where Piers was set up at but from where she was she saw too many J'avo and other infected milling about the infested city to be able to keep an accurate account. Almost all of them were moving around the city at varying paces, some went behind buildings and reappeared only to make Athena second guess herself. While she was scoping out the enemy taking down mental notes of it all something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

Athena swung her rife around to get a better look at it through her scope. There was J'avo carrying a hand gun. At first she was bewildered, she had never seen a J'avo with enough control on itself for a single shot weapon, let alone that weapon being a handgun. Next she saw the direction it was going in. It was headed straight for Piers. Athena took off at a sprint watching the J'avo disappear behind the trees. She screamed Piers' name as loud as she could hoping to somehow be able to alert him before the unthinkable happened. In the next instant she heard a gunshot and poured on the speed, everything was eerily quiet. Athena heard a cackling laughter coming from some other direction and couldn't worry about that at the moment, her sole worry being getting to Piers.

Athena got deeper into the woods and saw the J'avo from earlier bent down over Piers, searching his entire body. Athena feared the worst until she saw the gunshot wound was only in Piers' arm and the mark on his head like had had been knocked out. Athena gave of a sharp whistle, hoping to take the J'avo's attention away from her unconscious comrade. It worked extremely well, and when it turned around she was slightly surprised at its appearance. It looked like a watered down version of the normal J'avo that they fought. The most noticeable difference about him was that he only had two eyes. Athena waited as it approached her, waiting for it to get far enough away from Piers. Athena waited about twenty feet before she blew its brains out, watching it crumple to the ground dead and unnerved that it didn't crumble into ashes.

Athena hurried over and knelt down next to Piers. He was still unconscious with blood coming out of his wound and from the corner of his mouth slowly. Athena tore off some cloth and wrapped the wound as tightly as she could, but it was still bleeding and she had nothing to stop it with. Athena tried to get Piers up but was suddenly thrown against a tree back first. The only words she heard were:

"**I can smell the mark!"**

~~~~~~ Chris/V/Mars

Mars came running up the gates as fast as she could, almost out of breath from the sheer speed she was going. The tone in V's voice was obviously urgent, and Mars was concerned by the channel he had used in order to relay the message to her. He had been using a channel that they both hoped would never be needed. As Mars approached she saw V kneeled on the ground next to Chris with a small pool of blood trying to form on the ground below his arm. When she got next to the both of them V looked up and started to explain.

There was sweat forming on his head as he spoke, _"Do you remember,"_ V swallowed thickly, an odd copper taste in his mouth, _"those words from so long ago, and what I've told you since then? It is time to __***pay the debt.***__"_

Chris heard those words, an eerie response to the ones he had heard over the comms earlier. Mars' face was pale and she was trying to avert V's gaze. V stood up and nodded to Chris, albeit somewhat weakly. Chris was worried but complied as the other two shouldered their gear and started to run out of the gates.

V started to explain some of what was going on as they ran along the road. They were in an extreme rush, and even though he was bleeding he seemed to be moving faster than Mars or Chris could themselves.

"_Captain, I don't know what happened but Piers got shot and then something knocked him out. I don't know how but he's still moving, knocked out, but still moving. He's coming towards us but at a dragging pace."_

Chris nodded, fear and anxiety threatening him, they kept on running as quickly as they could forwards, nobody tiring because of the adrenaline and urgency of their unofficial mission. It took a few more minutes before they could hear and see everything. Ahead of them Chris could see two small silhouettes, about the size of two people, quickly becoming bigger while a much larger third silhouette was charging up behind those two.

~~~~~~~Athena/Piers

It took a moment for Athena to get her breath back. She'd been thrown hard against the tree by a large clawed hand and her vision was swimming around her head. When everything slowly came back into focus and she could move she saw the large armored abomination from before standing over Piers' body, searching him for who knows what.

The creature was frantic, searching over Piers dozens of times screaming, _"Where is he?! I can smell the mark, where is the one who has broken death?!"_

Athena stood up slowly and as carefully as she could, wincing and holding her side as a sudden surge of pain. She might have had a few ribs that are bruised or broken but she couldn't be sure at the time. That was a mistake; the creature whirled around and stalked toward Athena, albeit she was grateful that it had turned its attention from Piers.

A hungry gleam was surging through its eyes and it was practically growling as it spoke, _"Where is the one who has broken Death?! Tell me now!"_

Athena froze for a moment, gripped by fear. The creature came closer and closer, its jaws were salivating and it kept clenching and unclenching its claws. Athena could barely think, holding her side as it came closer to her than she ever wanted something like that to get. When it came within maybe ten feet from where Athena stood weakly she somehow found the will to speak again.

"_T-to the north… o-on the other side of the city…"_

Athena didn't have much hope in her that the creature wold actually believe what she had just told it but it seemed to work. It let off a strange gleeful screech and started tearing through the woods. Athena was amazed at its speed, but the second it was out of sight she found the will to move once again. She rushed over to Piers, kneeling down next to him to check him out. The make shift bandage she had used was gone and blood was slowly seeping out of the wound once again. Athena knew there wouldn't be enough time to get Piers fixed up and get him moving before that thing got back. Athena picked him up and draped his right arm over her shoulder. They moved along while Athena carried a pistol in her right hand, ready to fire it when needed. It was slow going to say the least, but every once in a while Athena would hear Piers groan and it would renew her energy to keep him going. They were on the road maybe five minutes before they could hear the roars from the creature once again.

Athena glanced back behind them; the creature was gaining on them fast. Athena pulled her hand holding her gun away, keeping Piers up with just a single arm. It was tough but she could manage it. Athena began firing back at the monster, hoping to slow it down; it did not appear to be working. It was getting closer; she wouldn't be able to outrun it. Athena closed her eyes and mouthed a silent prayer. She suddenly heard other voices yelling, and then she was tossed into the wind like a doll, hitting another tree while the world went black.

~~~~Chris/Mars/V

They were getting closer now. They could just barely make out the creature in the darkening light. V and Mars had already known what it was but Chris had just seen it, it was the same horrible creature from before. All of them were yelling for Athena to move faster. She didn't seem to hear them, and the creature got closer throwing Athena to the wind. They watched as she hit a tree and stopped moving. Chris almost rushed over to help her but then the creature picked Piers up, and started to squeeze his unmoving form in its claws.

The creature was almost screaming, _**"Where is he?! TELL ME!"**_

V took out his rifle as quickly as he could. He took aim at the creature's head. It was much less armored than it was last time. V let the bullet fly after yelling at the creature that subsequently dropped Piers to the ground.

"**Here I am you son of a bitch!"**

The bullet went straight into the bad eye that Piers had managed to shoot before. The creature reeled back and started thrashing, barreling back down the way it had come leaving a huge trail of blood while it moved on. Chris and V rushed over to Piers while Mars went to Athena. Piers was in much worse shape than Athena was, Mars was able to get Athena up and start moving with her.

As Chris and V got to Piers Chris' worst fears were being realized. Piers wasn't moving and he was barely breathing, the length of time between his breaths becoming longer and longer. His body was crushed, bones broken and internal organs possibly punctured, it looked very grim to the two trying to watch over him. V put two fingers to Piers' neck to check for a pulse as Mars struggled over.

V looked up to Mars, a tear forming in one of his eyes, _"It's… it's bad… Mars you know what this means right…?"_

Mars nodded, setting Athena down gently and touching her head to V's, tears starting to stream down her face. _"I know V… I know… I'm going to miss you."_

V took a deep breath before he said anything, _"I know Mars… I know… but we both knew it would come to this eventually; the time for the debt to be paid is coming. I'll see you on the other side…"_

Chris wasn't sure what was going on. They both obviously knew what was happening but he was being left in the dark. He watched as V started to sweat, his fingers were still on Piers' throat and he was starting to get some color back in his face. The next thing Chris knew there was shattering sound, and everything went white.

~~~~Piers

Piers didn't remember anything after being shot and knocked out within the span of something of like ten seconds. He woke up in a cot, feeling like he had never been shot. Piers tried to get up but then he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Mars, and she was staring at him, seemingly detached from the world. Piers swallowed before trying to speak, his throat was extremely dry.

"_W-what happened out there Mars…?"_

Mars looked over to him, a tear coming to her eye and falling down her face before she spoke.

"**The Debt is finally being paid…"**


	10. Chapter 10: Crumbling to Dust

Chapter 10: Crumbling to Dust

"We do not remember the days, we remember the moments." Cesare Pavese

Piers was bewildered by Mars' strange words. He looked at her questioningly but she made no point to elaborate on what she had just said. Piers watched as she hung her head back down, distancing herself from the conversation once again. Piers wanted, no, Piers _needed_ to know what had happened since he had been knocked out. Piers looked at Mars again, she was silently crying as she started off into nowhere.

Piers sat up in the cot as best as he could, he felt something new around his neck he hadn't noticed when he woke up. He reached his hand up to his neck and felt a scarf wrapped around it. When he moved it he felt a tingling sensation under the left side of his jaw. He didn't want to irritate it because he wasn't yet sure what it was. Piers decided to try and turn to the only other person in the room that might be able to provide him with some answers.

Piers put his hand over Mars' right. She looked up at him and looked like talking was the _last_ thing she wanted to do. Piers thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He couldn't think of anything so he finally gestured to the scarf with a questioning look. Mars swallowed thickly and Piers could even hear it as she began to speak.

After swallowing Mars took a deep breath to calm herself down, _"The… scarf?" It was… __**is**__ from V… it hides the mark, for lack of a better term."_

Piers was bewildered by her words yet again. He pulled back from Mars and touched the scarf again. The second it brushed over that spot right below the left side of his jaw he felt another tingling sensation. He slowly slid the scarf off from his neck; the "mark" was the shape of a shattered scythe. Piers let his fingers drift over it but felt nothing more than the same tingling sensation he had felt when the scarf had touched it. It seemed that for now at least, it would appear to be nothing more than a birth mark, even though it was actually much more. Piers looked forward again when Mars started speaking to him.

"_So… how are you doing? Chris had been hysterical since it all happened. He… never really understood what was happening, even when he woke up the other day. Me and V knew, but maybe that is why the Captain has been so crazy. We knew we could never hide from the past forever, and now it still lurks out there somewhere, waiting to feed on its next victim."_

Piers sat there for a moment, trying to digest every little bit of information he had just been given by Mars. Piers' fingers drifted over the mark once again while a flood of questions flew into his mind. He should be dead right now, but he wasn't. The lack of people was also disturbing, and then Piers remembered Athena. Or, at least, he remembered things from before his world went black.

He remembered seeing that armored abomination stalking around the city; the rustling noise, Athena yelling his name, then the gunshot and warm feeling in his left arm. Then everything went black as something collided with his head until he woke up in the cot that he was now lying in. Piers swallowed, trying to figure out what question he should ask Mars first.

"_So… what happened to Athena and Chris?"_ Piers was hoping everyone was still ok.

Mars let off a relieved sigh, _"So you remember… that's good, really it is. Athena got busted up pretty bad, but not as badly as you were…"_

Piers was pretty confused at that, wasn't he only shot and knocked out? Surely one wound to the shoulder and a blow to the head weren't as bad as what _could have_ happened to him. Piers was curious though, and almost afraid to ask what happened.

"_If I was worse than Athena was, then what the heck happened? The only thing I remember is being shot and knocked out."_

Mars glanced away from Piers for a moment before looking back to him. Piers saw another tear trail its way down her face and almost regretted asking her that question.

Mars finally answered after a tense moment of silence between the two soldiers had started to develop, _"You got dropped to the ground when that giant creature threw Athena to the side, she was trying to get you back to base. He picked you up after that and started crushing you in his claws. V shot him through the eye and it ran away thank god. I went over and grabbed Athena, bringing her back to you guys. When I came over you… were dying. Most of the bones in your body were crushed and you were bleeding internally. V, he…"_ Mars stopped for a moment, choking back a sob before continuing. _"…he made sure you made it…"_

Piers suddenly found something interesting about a certain spot on the floor. There was an uneasy silence between the two, nobody making a move to speak. Piers scratched the back of his head absently and made a move to get up. Piers was surprised and let off a small grunt when he was pushed back down onto the cot. All traces of Mars' former grief was gone, and she had Piers affixed with a determined stare,

"_Piers, you haven't eaten or so much as moved in the last __**five days**__." *__**Five days?!***_Piers thought while Mars continued speaking, _"You stay there and I will get you whatever you need. V didn't… he didn't do what he did for you to push yourself too hard and kill yourself in the process."_

Piers watched as Mars put two fingers to her ear and called someone to come watch him. They waited a few minutes and when they heard a knock Mars excused herself. Piers decided to lay himself back down, he guessed he would just have to deal with constantly being watched over for a while. As Piers laid there he heard someone new walk into the room and sit down next to him. He could feel eyes boring into his face, watching him for the slightest bit of movement possible.

Piers' curiosity got the best of him and he couldn't very well fall asleep knowing there was someone watching him so closely. Piers sighed and turned his head to the side opening his eyes. Piers' jaw almost dropped through the cot as hazel eyes met brown. The man sitting across from him almost fell out of his chair with relief at seeing him move. They held each other's eyes for a moment. For the first time in almost a week they could look at each other without worrying about anything else.

Chris reached forward and put a hand on Piers' forehead to check for a fever. Piers thought that was a little ridiculous, he wasn't sick, he was just being forced to stay here.

Chris' voice had barely contained happiness in it, _"H-how are you doing? You've been out for quite a while."_

Piers just watched him for a moment. Piers began looking for any emotions that he was hoping Chris had for him. Piers also began wondering what Chris had been so worried about; Mars said he wasn't doing too well. The next thing that was on his mind was whether or not Chris remembered anything from that night in the bar. Then he swallowed down a wave of nervousness in order to speak.

"_I-I'm doing good, Captain Redfield. How have you been?"_

Chris grinned stupidly at him, _"Worried out of my god damn mind whether or not you would wake up Piers. I've been visiting here every day with your little sister. You want to know the funny thing about all of it? __**She**__ was the one who wasn't worried, she just kept telling me __***Don't worry Daddy Redfield, Piers will be ok, he always is!***__ I believed every word she said, but that still didn't stop me from almost worrying myself to death over you."_

Piers' eyes lightened up when Chris mentioned Natalia saying *Daddy Redfield* and Chris did not manage to miss it. Piers smiled heartwarmingly at Chris when he told him about how much he had been worrying. Chris took a mental picture of that smile and locked it away inside his head, hoping he would see that many more times in person for the rest of his life.

Piers just kept on smiling stupidly, _"Worrying to death over little ole me huh? Is there something you want to tell me, Captain Redfield?"_

Chris came to a spluttering stop, at a complete loss for words. Chris just stared stupidly while the corners of Piers' mouth turned up in a mischievous smile. Chris moved forward without realizing it. He was subconsciously thinking of that awkward moment they had shared together in that bar several days ago.

Chris stopped in front of Piers, about six inches away, and sat down next to him. They were so close they could feel each other's breathing. Chris' was calm and normal, but Piers' was quickly becoming erratic. Piers closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. Before he could open them Chris had a hand on the back of his head. Piers' eyes shot open, questioning Chris but being afraid all at the same time.

Chris made no move to answer him, just closed his eyes and moved in closer. Their lips met in a passionate embrace. Chris' tongue asked for entrance and he was met with no resistance as he began showing Piers why he was so worried over him. After a minute or so of this, Chris really couldn't be sure of how long it was, he pulled back. Chris was practically breathless but Piers just sat there watching him with widened eyes.

"_H-how is that for your answer?"_ Chris gave Piers a stupid lop-sided smile.

Piers had that mischievous little smile appear on his lips again, _"Good an answer as ever, Captain. So… what are we going to do now?"_

Chris sighed, his shoulders slumped before he answered, _"I don't know. Jill wants us to find that thing and take it out. Can't say I blame her, I would really love to wring its neck myself but I think we should wait, Mars still isn't the same."_

Piers looked away, being weighed down by sudden guilt, _"What exactly happened? I mean she kind of told me but…"_

Chris put a hand on Piers' shoulder, _"V did what he… thought needed to be done. Mars doesn't blame you for that if that is what you think. They had a little bit of time before he… you know… but if you want to know you would have to ask Mars. As for what happened to V well... he um… crumbled into ashes…"_ Chris trailed off at the end.

Piers' face paled for a moment, _"You mean he was a…?"_

Chris thought about answering for a moment, but he already knew the conclusion Piers had come to, _"Yeah…"_

Piers looked back to the ground, _"But… the differences from the other ones… he didn't deserve __**that**__."_

Chris nodded back to Piers in silent agreement. Being infected with _**any**_ virus was horrible on its own, but to save someone's life and then crumble away like a B.O.W.? _That_ was something that deserved a _lot_ more. A moment later Mars walked into the room, and it appeared that she had listened to most of the conversation, at least from the comments she made.

"_As much as I hate him for it, he knew more than what he would even tell me, Captain Redfield." _Mars took a moment to set something down on a nearby table next to Piers before continuing, _"Did he deserve more than to just…"_ Mars took a deep breath to calm herself down, _"… crumble into ashes? Yes, but he also found someone who… __**deserved**__ another chance to live their life, to…" _Mars pondered her own words for a moment,_ "…realize how much they mean to someone else."_ Mars tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow at Chris and giving both of them a slight smile.

Piers turned away, face blushing extremely red. Chris didn't let him do it for long however, because he grabbed his right shoulder and pulled him back around, forcing him to look back into his eyes, and to see Mars as well.

Mars walked over and put a hand on Piers' shoulder, making him look up at her. They both held each other's gaze for a moment. A slight understanding came between them and a smile graced Piers' lips, and then Mars decided to speak agai_n._

"_Piers you got a second chance, don't blow it ok?"_ Mars raised an eyebrow to Chris who just smiled beamingly in response.

A smile slowly crept its way onto Piers' lips again, _"Yeah… thanks, I won't fuck it up this time Mars. So… what are doing about all of this then?"_

Mars managed a quick glance to Chris, so quick that Piers almost thought he had imagined it. Mars grabbed the tray she had set down on a table earlier and handed it to Piers. Mars cleared her throat and looked almost embarrassed, which was kind of odd considering the conversation they were having.

"_I uh… didn't really know what you might want… so I grabbed a *classic.* Steak, potatoes, and some corn, I hope that's ok for you Piers."_

Piers was practically beaming his happiness right into Mars, _"It's great! Thanks Mars."_

As Piers began to eat Mars and Chris just gave him a few lazy smiles at his eagerness for food, but they couldn't really blame him. Being unconscious for nearly a week could really spark your appetite the next time you saw something to eat. They were also surprised at his cheerfulness because for someone who had almost died a few days ago, he seemed to be completely immersed with it.

After Piers was done eating Mars bid them good night and headed off to go to sleep. Chris and Piers sat there for a while longer; enjoying the quiet time and second chance they had been given. Piers slipped into a warm and comfortable sleep while Chris fell asleep in a nearby chair, keeping a watchful eye on him should anything go wrong during the night.


	11. Chapter 11: The Scythe becomes Whole

Chapter 11: The Scythe becomes whole

"If you do not think about your future, you cannot have one." – John Galsworth

It took about a week for Piers to get better. He was alive, thanks to V, but there were limitations that nobody could have been able to see just by him lying in a bed and talking to people all day. The days were slow and uneventful, nothing new came about concerning the abomination they had faced on the road. Piers slowly regained his normal strength, when he woke up and tried walking on the second day he almost passed out. If Chris had not woken up just then he probably would have unceremoniously hit the ground with a thud leaving Chris to worry about him once again.

Chris had sat Piers back down in the cot and alerted Mars as to what was going on. She came running in looking weary and annoyed at Piers all too much. She reiterated again that they would get him whatever he needed and that he _needed_ to be resting himself. Mars had Chris make sure he stayed put where he was and went to get him some form of breakfast. Chris didn't mind this in the least bit but it was obvious that Piers hated being under constant watch and on bedrest until he recovered.

The third day after he had woken up, their small little group held a memorial service for V. Piers, Natalia, Chris, Mars, and Athena showed up, even though Athena was still recovering from some broken ribs.

They could not do very much for V sadly, just a small wooden market and a few kind words, thanking him for saving Piers. Officially, he had been labeled Killed In Action, or K.I.A. Unofficially, he was actually a "strange" form of a B.O.W. that had complete control of himself; one that had given a life to save a life. Nobody said anything to the higher ups, even though Jill knew; if anyone else did they would try to wipe him from recorded existence. None of them wanted to let that happen, especially after all they had been through together and everything he had helped to make possible.

Over the next few days Piers gradually got all of his normal strength and endurance back and even seemed to be stronger than usual. Piers was now running faster, longer, and even doing more than what Chris himself could do in terms of weight lifting. After about a week of recovering, the team heard a development about the abomination from before.

It had been spotted again, and there seemed to be a new influx of J'avo into the abominations "domain" of a city. Jill had called again, **_asking,_** this time actually **_asking_** them if they could take the beast out. The reports suggested that the abomination might now be extremely vulnerable, it had a lot less armor than the last time and they were told that it now looked somewhat necrotic, which was a horrifying piece of information but yet it was somehow hopeful.

The entirety of Alpha Team agreed to take the creature on, everyone had a fire for vengeance in their hearts that burned brighter and brighter with every piece of news they heard about this thing. The exception of Alpha Team's roster, Mars, was no exception to the fire for vengeance. When they headed down to the armory to get suited up Piers had noticed Mars was working with something he had never before seen her use. Piers approached her cautiously because he could feel hatred emanating off of her in waves as she looked at it.

Mars didn't even seem to notice Piers was he walked up behind her slowly, _"Hey… Mars, um, what is that exactly?"_

Mars took a second before she decided to look at Piers, but ultimately not actually looking him in the eyes but more of staring off into nowhere, _"This… it's um… **insurance**."_

Piers wasn't sure what to make of that claim of it being for "insurance" and decided to leave Mars alone and not try to push the subject at all. Before Piers could step completely away from Mars she grabbed his arm abruptly. Piers stopped in his tracks and turned around, raising a questioning eyebrow at Mars who seemed to be looking for the right words to say.

Mars was hesitant and almost stumbling over the first few words she said, _"When… **if** the time comes, and you see someone worth having another chance, do everything you can to make sure they get it, OK? There are still people worth saving in this worth, and I **know** that V saw you were one of the people worth saving, Piers."_

Piers took those words to heart, it seemed as time went on that Mars would become more open to Piers about things she and V thought. He may not have shown it to Mars but every little new piece of information he was given as to why he was saved he couldn't help but feel happier and happier that he had even one more **second** of time in him after what had happened. Piers nodded back to Mars after a tense second of silence, hoping that it seemed sincere enough for her. It must have seemed sincere because after he nodded to her Mars released her grip on his arm and allowed him to walk away.

After about five minutes all of Alpha Team was geared up and ready to go on the mission. Nobody talked on the way there as they loaded up into the helicopter and flew over, but Chris and Piers did make it a point to walk closer together and sit down next to each other in the helicopter.

It took them about an hour to get to the city, it was eerily quiet and there wasn't a single sign of B.O.W.s or any form of life in general from the light of the sinking maroon red sun in the distance. The wind was blowing dust and small pieces of debris over the place, and every once in a while some of the dust would kick up into someone's face making them have a light sneeze or coughing fit. Still, looking at the city the entire team couldn't help but feel on edge, last time Piers had been here he had seen so many infected that he couldn't keep count and now it just looked like a damn ghost town with zero signs of life anywhere.

Alpha reached the city limits and got about thirty seconds into the city when they came under heavy fire from dozens, maybe even hundreds of J'avo. They were forced to separate, much to the dismay of Chris and Piers specifically. Mars and Piers broke off to the western direction while Chris, Andy, and Marco went to the east towards the evacuation point in case they came under an intense ambush. Mars and Piers worked their way down an alley they had rushed into and it opened back up onto another street.

The gunfire had stopped following them the second they had entered the alley, but the moment they came out seemed more tense than it had before they entered it. Mars and Piers proceeded along slowly, both extremely aware of their surroundings and sticking to the overhangs and walls jutting out further into the streets from buildings on the sidewalk. While they were moving along they spotted moving shadows further down the street and in many of the windows on the buildings but couldn't make out what they were long enough to get an accurate picture of them, although they only thought of two possibilities. J'avo or just a trick of their mind, but both of them figured the former rather than the latter of the two possibilities.

Crackling started coming over the radio, they couldn't make out what was being said, just intermittent static and sparse pieces of words were floating through, but the voice was easily identifiable as Chris'. In the distance they started hearing the sounds of a firefight between dozens of guns. Piers tried his own comms and cursed when all he received from them was a sharp burst of static.

Piers then looked to Mars, frightened for Chris' safety, _"What do you think is happening over there?"_

Before Mars could answer Piers' question they heard a roar over the sounds of the firefight and then they too came under fire from what seemed like the buildings themselves. The entire street seemed to come alive with gunfire, all aimed at the two lone soldiers trying to stay alive. They both ducked behind the nearest pillars for cover, Piers and Mars both sweating form the heat and sudden firefight but Piers looked absolutely wracked with worry over Chris. Piers looked for Mars to try and get some idea of what to do and Mars looked back, thinking for a moment on what to say to him.

Before she could say anything there was another savage and animalistic roar about the sounds of guns firing. Mars cursed again, _"On three you run your ass off towards that fight and don't ever look back. Do you understand me Piers?"_

Piers nodded and Mars began counting, _"One… Two… **THREE!**"_

_OoOoOoOoOo_

They had been split off for several minutes now, and Chris' mind was going insane over the possibilities of what might have happened. They had gotten no call or indication from Piers and Mars that they were ok and Chris wanted to go search for them but he was bound to make sure that no more of his team was put into harm's way unnecessarily. Chris ordered his men to keep moving and they obliged, although they too wanted to go back and search for the missing members of their team. They had to reach the evacuation point quickly before they got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of J'avo. They moved along as quickly as they could, still under extremely heavy fire from behind. One person was always ahead of the rest, ready to turn around and provide covering fire at a moment's notice.

They moved like this for as long as they could, almost the entire way to the evacuation point. Chris was the first of their group to provide covering fire, being that he could run faster than Andy or Marco and so had been ahead of them both. Chris turned around and let loose a few quick bursts of fire from his MP-AF and managed to down a couple J'avo before Andy and Marco rushed passed him. Marco was the next to provide covering fire, blowing the brains out of a J'avo who had the sights of his sniper rifle set on Chris' head. Andy was the third to provide cover, and all he managed to do was throw a grenade before having to duck for cover, vaporizing almost a dozen J'avo that were clustered in a group but then having to turn around and sprint off after Chris and Marco just as quickly.

They kept on running, ducking behind anything they could use for momentary cover down the street. After about another tent seconds of sprinting Chris turned around to fire back at the encroaching J'avo. Chris managed to take out two more before he heard a loud gunshot and the clothing on his left arm started turning red. Chris grunted and turned around, sprinting off to follow Andy and Marco.

They reached point Delta and radioed for extraction. Unfortunately, they were a few minutes out. Three soldiers, unsure of what had happened to their two missing comrades, would have to face off against a seemingly endless wave of J'avo in hopes that the rescue chopper would get to them before they were overrun.

Suddenly, the incoming fire stopped and they heard a primal like roar from deeper in the city, Chris' face paling at the sound and he became even more worried about the two missing soldiers. The moment muted gunfire didn't last long whoever, the second the sound died off the gunfire started up again, peppering the ground and buildings in a wild spray of ammunition. They took cover for what seemed like the thousandth time that day and began firing back at the J'avo with every quiet moment that they got. Chris wasn't much use for long however, the adrenaline was slowly wearing off but he was losing feeling in his left arm as time went on.

Chris set about using his pistol, dropping his MP-AF to the ground and shooting at anything that came closer to them and lobbing grenades at clusters of J'avo. Chris could still be useful with grenades even if he wasn't with a gun, because even with a slowly deadened arm he could still throw grenades further than Andy or Marco were able to.

Andy cursed when his gun clicked empty and he had no more ammo left. Chris slid his MP-AF over to him along with his remaining ammo. Then another roar came, a little closer this time causing a momentary silence that silenced slightly longer. Andy took that moment to reload his gun, while Marco tossed Chris all the remaining grenades they had.

Chris suddenly heard some crackling over the radio in the quiet air. The words were extremely hard to make out because he could only hear bits and pieces of what was being said. One word he was able to make out clearly was *Captain* and it sounded like Piers was the one who said it. Chris couldn't dwell long on this fact however because less than a second later the gunfire started up again, but at least Chris knew that Piers was still alive out there somewhere.

Another roar shook the city, this time gunfire stopped but they could all hear more distance shots as they crouched behind the walls and pillars littering the area that they had commandeered for cover. Chris could hear Mars screaming over the roar and picked out the sound of their rescue chopper closing in on them. They all had a minute or maybe less before they had to hightail it out of there like there was no tomorrow and well really, if they didn't there probably _wouldn't_ be a tomorrow, for _any_ of them. The trio defending the evacuation point peered out from where they had been taking cover and saw Piers running ahead of Mars away from a… Chris had to do a double take for a moment.

_*Is that a fucking mutant rubber chicken?!*_ Chris' jaw almost dropped staring at the thing following Mars and Piers.

Chris watched as it barreled forward after the duo of soldiers they had all but thought were dead, it looked the same shape of the thing they had seen before, and it certainly sounded like it. But for whatever strange reason it looked like its skin was almost rubber now, and Chris watched as the bullets fired into it just simply bounced off of it and fell to the ground. The only thing that seemed to stop it was when it was hit with an incendiary grenade or some kind of flame inducing objects.

The helicopter touched down behind them with its blades slowing down but not completely stopping as Mars and Piers kept on running forward. The creature was able to get closer and closer to the two but every time it did Mars just set it on fire sending it staggering back a few steps until it could stop the flames lapping over its scarred and burnt body. Piers and Mars were about twenty yards from the helicopter, and then things started to take a turn for the worst. Chris, Andy, and Marco were loading up in the chopper when they heard a loud cracking sound ripping through the air.

Chris' head whipped around to look behind him and his heart almost fell through the world at what he saw. Mars was throwing another incendiary grenade at the creature and Piers was on the ground some maybe ten yards behind her back. Piers had a nasty bullet wound in his leg and there was a small pool of blood trying to form below him on the ground. Chris remained in the chopper frozen in utter fear, he had no clue what he should do, he was just standing there hoping some kind of miracle would happen at this point. His eyes followed his would be miracle as she turned around hauling an injured and limping Piers to his feet. The flames on the creature were almost gone when Piers was hoisted into the chopper.

Mars remained outside and stared at Chris until he finally relented and looked at her. They had a quick and silent conversation and Chis nodded at her in understanding. Piers' breathing was slightly ragged at this point and he looked at mars with widened eyes.

_"W-what are you doing, Mars?"_

Mars didn't even turn around, she just kept looking ahead at the creature coming towards them,_ "I'm finishing what should have been done a long time ago."_

Piers was bewildered at her words and made a move to try and grab for her, and Chris had to hold him back with his one good arm. Mars readied her MP-AF and dashed off towards the creature. Chris and Piers watched silently as she started shooting bursts of bullets into its face, leading it deeper and deeper into the city.

The helicopter pilot radioed to them that he couldn't wait any longer and he took off without even waiting for a response from his passengers. Everyone took the ride in silence, Piers' and Chris' eyes never leaving the city that they could still hear roars coming from. Suddenly, their vision was lit up by a blue flare, and not even a minute later the city went up in flames. Piers finally tore his vision away and was gawking at Chris, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes and threatening to spill out. Marco and Andy were equally as shocked, staring at the rising fires in the city with nothing but cold faces filled with shock and recognition of what had just happened.

_"W-what just happened, Captain…?"_

Chris was silent for a moment, still watching the flame rise into the sky and wondering if he should actually voice it out loud for Piers or not, _"I…"_ Chris' words caught in his throat for a moment, _"… don't know…"_

The helicopter ride was taken in near silence from then on. Chris and Piers just watched the raging inferno slowly fade to nothing more than a spark in the distance. Marco and Andy were the only two who really did anything; they went about patching everybody's wounds. Chris was the first one to be patched up and he offered the two soldiers no resistances when they tried to help him. Piers was another story however, he was still staring out the chopper when they decided to try and fix up his leg. When Marco and Andy got close to try to patch him up Piers tried to push them away, grumbling about how he didn't need to be babysat anymore. Chris helped Andy and Marco out by holding Piers back with one arm, pulling him in closer to his chest. When Piers looked at him questioningly Chris just nodded at him, trying to tell him that now was not the time to be doing this. Piers sighed and just let them get it all over with and it looked like he might have to deal with being babysat all over again.

They touched down back at base later that night in a state of shock. They had all seen people die, natural causes, disease, _war,_ but that doesn't mean you ever _really_ get _used_ to what happened or actually _get over_ it all together. Every death in this war was unique in its own horrifically unique way; nobody ever died the **_exact same way_**.

The days passed slowly and silently. Mars herself was given a good funeral by the B.S.A.A., she was thanked and commended as a true hero who gave her life to ensure the survival of the rest of her team. Drex, the leader of the Del Mar team, even said words about how medics made it their duty to ensure the survival of their comrades and that Mars went above and beyond her call of duty, carrying that oath out to the letter and then some. Piers and Chris took these words with a grain of salt, although Piers did more so than Chris, Piers still felt something else could have been done so that she didn't have to die, could have survived _with_ Piers, and Chris, and everyone else.

Mars was also given an assortment of medals to show the B.S.A.A.'s recognition of her heroic actions and they were proudly presented to Drex, although he didn't seem completely happy at being the one to receive them. Late that day, Alpha was sitting in the mess hall together, eating in a somewhat companionable silence and _trying_ to make some kind of small talk, to show that they weren't that deeply affected by it, by they all knew that would have been a lie. Drex came up to their table along with two other members from his team and tapped Chris on the shoulder.

Andy, Marco, and Piers watched Drex approach and tap Chris on the shoulder, although Chris made no move to say anything or even acknowledge him. Piers sighed, realizing that Chris didn't want anything to do with _anyone_ right now that wasn't a part of Alpha Team. Piers tapped him on the shoulder and when Chris looked at him Piers pointed towards Drex, which forced Chris to swing around to give him a cold stare that said he **definitely** did **not** want to be disturbed right now.

Drex pulled out an ornately carved box, and set it down next to Chris. Everyone stared at it for a moment, not wanting to see what was inside even though they all knew perfectly well what it was. Drex explained to them why he was giving them the box, that the medals should have gone to the team Mars had devoted her life and her entire being to, not to her "official" team that for the Del Mars seemed to be nothing more than a stamp to show that they were medics. After that Drex left in an awkward silence, even though he had received approving nods from the rest of the Alpha Team Chris was still as despondent as ever, even the others who _had_ nodded didn't seem too interested in doing it.

Later that week they all went out to V's grave marker; the sting of not being able to give him a proper funeral still as present as ever. They made another wooden marker to bring out and dedicated this one to Mars. They draped the medals around both markers; they should be left with the two people who had given their lives. The medals would have only served as a bittersweet reminder to the living, bringing to light the good times and the sacrifices that were made.

At times in the future, these markers would serve as memorials to the current, former, and future members of Alpha Team that would serve under Chris Redfield. Chris and Piers would visit before they headed off to Edonia, Marco would also visit these markers only a few weeks after placing them. Piers would often visit them alone to remember Mars' words, to give someone who deserved a second chance the opportunity when he could, and to thank V for giving him and his little sister a second chance to be alive.

Chris never told Piers but he would always watch him go out to the markers. Sometimes he would go with his little sister and sometimes not, but he would watch as Piers would try to seem like he is talking to people who are no longer there. Piers would sit there and talk about things that were happening, things that _had_ happened, always smiling and laughing when he seemed to be trying to tell them about Chris' latest screw ups, things such as tripping up the stairs or other little things that were funny on life's day to day things.

A week after the markers at been placed and the medals draped around them, Alpha made it a special night to go out and visit them all as a group, Athena and Natalia accompanied them as well. Once they got there they all sat around chatting, remembering things, good and bad, that had happened while Mars and V were with them. They had all tried to come up with ways to make it memorable, but all they really did was try to tell some jokes to lighten the mood and things they would be doing in the future. Piers was the only one who came up with a real idea to make it memorable, and everyone there had agreed it to be a good idea. Piers had come to them and explained that there was a song that he thought would make it a memorable place for all of them and after everyone agreed he began leading them, a couple even chiming in because they knew the words.

_*….Hello world  
How've you been?  
Good to see you, my old friend  
Sometimes I feel cold as steel  
Broken like I'm never gonna heal  
I see a light, a little hope…*_

After the singing they slowly began to break off and go back to rest. Eventually, Chris, Piers, and Marco were the only ones left there and Marco decided that it was time to break the news. He had motioned to Chris who looked at him questioningly and that is when he brought out the orders he had received the other day.

_"Captain… I have orders to be transferred to another team in the European branch as a demolitionist. I've been told that my replacement should be here soon and that his name is Finn McCauley. So… I guess I'll see you guys around after tonight… take care OK?"_

Chris nodded at him, not taking his eyes of the paper requesting Marco's transfer. Piers walked over and embraced Marco, saying that he was proud to have served with him on Alpha Team. Chris nodded in agreement, and clasped Marco on his shoulder, wishing him luck with his new team.

The next day Piers walked out to the markers and Chris watched him as he went. Chris hadn't broken the news to anyone yet but they were to be shipping out to help fight a war that was erupting in Edonia. Chris was surprised today at how little time Piers had spent out there before coming back. Chris would never know this but Piers had found a small paper by the markers, under a medal that did not belong there while the others seemed to be missing.

_*Don't ever back down. When you need it most, the Shattered Scythe will become whole. When the time comes that you see someone who deserves a second chance give it to them Piers.*_

_~Signed: The Reaper_

Piers had been bewildered at those words written on this odd piece of paper. It seemed older than something that could ever have had his name written on it, it had looked to be a few hundred years old, like the slightest movement could rip it into shreds. Piers took it and folded it up, being surprised at how sturdy it seemed to be, and stuck it in a pocket on his chest, as near to his badge as he could get it. Once he got back and walked up to Chris, the news had been broken about them needing to head out to Edonia. Piers nodded in grim affirmation, wishing that all of them could make it back alive. Throughout Edonia and China however, Piers never forgot the words he heard so long ago, and even while the underwater facility exploded around them and Chris begged Piers to keep going with him, those words constantly replayed in his head, deciding that then and there would be the one person he would find who deserved a second chance.

So, Piers sent him off on his way, with Chris still banging and pleading for him to come along even though Piers had decided himself that it would be the second chance that he would be willing to give. Although, even though he thought he had accepted his fate, Piers had felt something ebb away and seem to burn itself out of him as the place collapsed around him. In his head though, Piers could hear the words in the sounds of voices he had almost forgotten, _*The Scythe is becoming whole.*_ and after hearing the words is when Piers blacked out, all but resigning himself to whatever fate awaited him.


End file.
